


The 4400 - Mysteries in the Masses

by RegalGirl94



Series: 4400 [1]
Category: The 4400 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Fanfiction, OC insert, Original Character(s), Original Character-centric, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:00:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 39,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26222263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RegalGirl94/pseuds/RegalGirl94
Summary: 4400 people are abducted by mysterious beings. They’re snatched from different places and at different times throughout the 20th and 21st century. Then, one balmy evening, a glowing ball of light disgorges the kidnapped folks at the side of a deserted lake. Every single one of them. Soon after, the returnees begin to manifest special powers…Among them is Rhiannon Mitchell who disappeared in 1988 and reappeared with painful and powerful abilities that set her on a path she never saw for herself.
Series: 4400 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1904446
Comments: 3
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Season One has been sitting on my computer for a while. I always thought that this show didn't get enough love and got cut down too soon. So, let me know what you think of what I've done with it.

****

**MARCH 3RD 1946 – CRESCENT CITY, CALIFORNIA**

Light rain pittered and pattered on the roof of car parked in the middle of Crescent City National Park. A woman inside faced her husband, her lips painted a modest beige color and her hair pulled back in an easy blonde bun. "Ethan, I don't think it's going to clear up anytime soon."

"I don't think it's gonna last that long," Ethan mused, peering out the windshield. "It's not raining that hard."

"It was so nice this morning," the woman commented.

"Yeah," Ethan agreed. "It'll clear up, and if it doesn't, we'll just have a picnic in the car."

A little blonde girl in the back seat, slumped in her seat. "No Daddy. I want to play."

"Oh no. You're gonna get all wet, sweetie," Ethan protested. "Maybe later."

"Please," the little girl pleaded, "It's a very light shower. Please! I won't get wet."

The man and wife shared a look at their daughter's pleading, having a silent conversation before the woman turns toward the girl with a smile. "Okay, Maia."

Maia grinned and cheered, "Yay!" as her mother opened the door and pulled back her passengers' seat so Maia could get out of the car.

"But just for a minute. I want you to come right back," her mother warned.

"I promise," Maia smiled as she got out of the car and headed toward the trees.

"Have fun," Ethan called after her.

"I will," Maia called back as she skipped into the trees. She traipsed through the woodlands, bending over to pick up flowers as she went. Suddenly from some unseen focal point above, a blinding white light descended upon her.

The flowers she had gathered fell to the woodland floor.

**JULY 16TH 1946 – EUREKA, CALIFORNIA**

A baby gurgled in his highchair, slapping his hands on the tabletop and gabbing away as his mother poured some CheeriOats onto the table for him. He smiled and giggled as he grasped the cereal and stuffed them in his little mouth.

Alice Bello smiled at her baby boy. "Hungry, Teddy?"

The baby just giggled at her.

"I hear laughter." A tanned man walked into the kitchen in a nice gray suit. "That's a good sign."

Alice smiled at her husband, Dominic, as he leaned to kiss her cheek. "Good morning. Yes—Teddy seems to be in a happy mood today. Let's hope it lasts. Terrible twos are approaching, you know?"

"Yes, I do know," Dominic teased. "And it's only worse in Bello men—all that Italian blood."

"He's half English." Alice pouted.

Dominic smiled at his wife. "Of course, bella, of course. What did you guys have planned for today?"

Alice helped feed little CheeriOats to her baby boy as she answered. "We've got to go to the store after breakfast. And then Elizabeth and baby Emma are coming over for a play date and to listen to the broadcasts."

"Sounds like a full day." Dominic grinned, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind her. Alice smiled as her husband kissed her neck, pulling away to grin at their child. "Isn't that right, neonato?"

Alice twisted in her husband's arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Have a good day at work, today. We'll be right here when you get back."

Dominic smiled. "Just where I need you. I love you, caro."

"I love you too." Alice smiled, sharing a kiss with her beloved before he picked up his briefcase and walked out the house with a smile.

Baby Teddy babbled some more, eating the cereal. Alice smiled down at her baby. "Daddy loves you. Momma loves you too."

Baby Teddy giggled. "Mama!"

Alice smiled at her baby. "Mama, yes. Everything is perfect."

Suddenly a blue light erupted over their heads, enveloping their bodies from some unseen source. Startled, Alice picked Teddy up from his highchair and held him close to her chest, "Help!" But the light took them over, leaving an empty highchair and empty house behind.

**NOVEMBER 25TH 1988 – CENTRE ISLAND, NEW YORK.**

Dark wisps of brunette curls fell into a teenage girl's face in the autumn night air as her black nails shakily rolled a joint on her back porch.

"Rio?" a voice called from the back door. The girl looked up, startled, to see her little brother Jacob standing, rubbing his eyes tiredly as he pushed the screen door open and walked towards her.

"What are you doing up, kiddo?" Rio asked the small boy. "It's almost midnight."

"I was thirsty," Jacob mumbled, his eyes catching sight of the paper in her hands. "What's that?"

Rio eyed the joint she rolled and stammered some excuse, "Um—it's something to help chill me out. So, I can get some sleep."

"I thought your new happy pills did that," Jacob innocently guessed.

"They're meant to make me happy," Rio explained as sparsely as she could. You couldn't really describe manic-depressive medication to a seven-year-old. "But this helps calm me down when I'm too awake or excited—you understand?"

Jacob nodded. "I guess so. Are you going to bed soon too?"

Rio nodded back to him. "Of course. Why don't you go back inside? You'll catch a cold out here."

"Okay," Jacob shrugged, wrapping his arms around his big sister's waist. "I love you, Rio."

Rio smiled softly. "I love you too, squirt."

Jacob slowly walked back inside. Rio must have waited at least ten minutes before she slipped her lighter out the front pocket of her ripped jeans. She poised the joint on her lips and raised the flame to the other end. She took a deep breath of the grass and held it in briefly, before letting the smoke lift out of her mouth as if she were a fog machine. She grabbed the homemade tin foil ash tray she made and tapped the end of the joint inside briefly before lifting it back to her lips for another puff.

Suddenly a white light erupted in the sky over her. She lifted her other arm to shield her eyes from the brightness. But in the next second, she was gone.

The joint she'd been smoking fell into the window planter her mother nourished as if it were a newborn. The still-lit end caught fire to the outdoor curtains on the window.

Jacob coughed as he woke up blearily in his bed on the second floor. "Rio?" he rasped as he rubbed his eyes open from sleep. He gasped when he saw flames crawling up the window wall of his bedroom. He immediately jumped out of his bed and ran out of his room. He gasped when he noticed the bathroom next door completely erupted into flames. He rushed to his sister's room and pushed open the door. Her bed was empty, but the fire had extending to her curtains and closet full of cotton clothes.

Jacob ran out toward his parents' bedroom, throwing the door open. His parents laid like stones in their beds, the fire hadn't reached their room yet. Jacob reached his mother's sleeping form and shook her. "Mommy! Wake up—the house—it's on fire!"

She stayed sleeping. Jacob knew the only thing he could do was get his sister. She'd know what to do. Jacob raced back into the hallway, dodging the flames that had reached outside of his room. "Rio! Rio—help!" He dragged the bottom of his sleep shirt to cover his mouth and squinted in the smokey air. He slipped at the top of the stairs in all his disoriented running and tumbled down the steps, his little body thumping against the wood as he fell the bottom floor, his head smacking into the stair railing.

His eyes stayed closed as the fire from the kitchen spread through the living room.

**AUGUST 16TH 1999 – NEWCASTLE, WASHINGTON**

"Davey!" Fourteen-year-old Ben Summers called out to his little nine-year-old brother in the park.

"Over here, Ben!" the little boy called back from behind the jungle gym.

"It's time to go back home!" the older brother told him.

Davey sighed in the middle of the deserted park. "Fine."

He started walking for his brother, whose hand was outstretched to take his, when a bright beam of light descended onto him from the sky. Davey stared up in confusion, squinting under the light, as he heard the dull shouting of his brother, "Davey!"

**APRIL 22ND 2001 – HIGHLAND BEACH, WASHINGTON**

Two teenaged boys sat perched on a log at the beach. It was late at night. The boys laughed over stupid jokes, lifting beer bottles to their lips to take drinks between talking.

The boy with lighter brown hair pulled the beer bottle away from his friend's lips as he tried to chug the drink. "You need to slow down cous! I'm not driving back into the town for another six pack."

The boy with longer hair chortled at him. "You're just afraid my Dad will kick your ass if I come home smelling like beer."

The other boy laughed. "Evil cousin Shawn, that's me. Corrupter of the innocent."

They clinked their beers together as his cousin grinned mischievously. "The next-door neighbor of yours, what's her name? She seems ready for some corruption."

Shawn gave him an incredulous look. "You mean Nikki? She's 14, Kyle."

Kyle drunkenly gawked at him. "14?"

"Yeah," Shawn confirmed.

The next second as they sipped their drinks, a bright light from the sky appeared above them. Shawn and Kyle shouted for each other as sound became silent. Shawn's body disappeared from sight as Kyle fell to the ground, his eyes closing as consciousness eluded him.

* * *

Kyle laid comatose in a hospital bed. A man, Tom, sat slumped in a hospital chair watching the news on the corner television. "Hey kiddo! You're missing your show. It's a big comet. NASA says we'll never see one closer in our lifetime." Kyle didn't respond, his eyelids didn't even flutter. Tom sighed. "Yeah, I didn't think that would work."

* * *

Now nineteen-year-old Ben rubbed his eyes, rubbing his neck. He fell asleep in his desk chair once again. The moonlight filled his bedroom as his computer monitor had since darkened from lack of use. He wiggled the computer mouse and re-logged into his computer. The screen faded into a picture of him and his little brother, Davey, when they were small boys.

They were smiling and happy and a little dirty from rough housing outside. But at least Davey was safe and sound. Now he was who-knows-where.

Ben clicked on a small envelop in the corner of his screen and opened his email. He saw a bolded new email message and clicked on it.

His eyes scanned the message from one of his friends back home that he tasked to scour the park once a month for any sign that Davey had turned back up.

**Still no sign of him, man. It's been, what? – six years now? There's nothing here.**

Ben sighed in disappointment. He stood up from his desk and walked over to his open window where he set up a telescope to watch the comet about to pass over. He leaned down and pressed his eye into the seeing glass. "It's not supposed to be that bright..."

* * *

In a grassy courtyard in the middle of a friendly neighborhood, a boy stood making out with his blonde girlfriend next to a telescope. The girl pulled away with a wry smile. "I thought we were supposed to be watching the comet."

The boy grinned in faux innocence. "Oh yeah, the comet."

The girl looked up to the sky, seeing the bright dot in the sky moving steadily. She frowned in confusion. "Is it supposed to be that bright?"

* * *

"Seth—it's not a comet!"

"What are you talking about man?" Seth on the computer screen grumbled. "It's a bright light in a sky."

"Exactly!" Ben excitedly told him. "It's exactly like the day Davey disappeared. And that comet was just going to ride right by us—but now it's nosediving for us! Comets don't change course like this. It has to be-"

"It's not Davey," Seth interrupted his friend in Seattle. "You said some bright beam of light just appeared out of nowhere. NASA's been tracking this thing for weeks. And we all see it. Not just you. It's just a comet. It's not your brother. Davey's been gone for six years, man."

"It's too much a coincidence," Ben insisted.

"Well it won't matter in a few minutes," Seth sighed. "Because everyone's launching every missile, they've got at it."

* * *

Tom stared up at the news in his son's hospital room. The anchor quickly and solemnly read the breaking news as it unfolded. "There has been a launch. The US military has launched a volley of 24 type 2 missiles."

* * *

The blonde girl stared up at the missiles shooting up into the sky towards the bright comet like stars. "What's going on?"

* * *

Tom ran a hand through his hair as he listened to the anchor count down. "9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4..."

* * *

"3, 2, 1..." Ben held his breath.

* * *

"Norad is reporting that at least nine of the Titan 2 missiles have hit their target," the anchor reported, making Tom sigh in relief. "It appears the comet has..."

* * *

"I'm scared," the blonde girl, Nikki, looked at her boyfriend. "I'm going to find my parents, okay?"

The couple kissed before she left.

* * *

"A catastrophic impact with Earth," the anchor reported, "now appears unavoidable."

Tom was on the phone with his sister, as she hysterically cried into the phone. "Tom, it's Susan. What is going on? Isn't there a shelter that we can go to? I mean—technically you still work for Homeland Security, don't you?"

Tom sighed, lifting his hand to rub his forehead. "Susan, it doesn't matter. Those shelter's aren't going to make a damn bit of difference. I'm sorry." He sighed again. "I love you sis. Just hug Danny close and pray for the best."

* * *

"See?" Ben shouted to his friend. "I told you it wasn't a comet! It's like—landing."

"At Mount Rainier?" Seth observed. "It says here it's just stopped on the water. Dude, turn to channel 4."

Ben obliged and listened to the news reporter speak at the site of the comet 'landing'. "We're close to the base of Mount Rainier. The ball of light is massive, 100—200 feet in diameter. Hard to tell. We're going to try to get closer." There was a shuffling as the camera man and reporter shifted further down the beach. "I can tell you, that this is, without a doubt, one of the most incredible sights I've ever seen."

"We're still looking for something official from the government."

The reporter was watching the scene play out as the camera turned toward the ball of light. It spun and got smaller and smaller until it suddenly exploded. The blast sent the camera twirling to the ground.

"What's going on?" the anchor asked as the shot switched to him before back to the field reporter.

"We're not sure what's just happened," the reporter answered as the shaky camera flipped back to him, "the ball of light is gone."

The camera turned back to a gathering of mist. Ben watched the screen with rapt attention as the mist cleared moment by moment to reveal a huge group of people in all different styles of clothing and disorientation.

* * *

On site of Mount Rainier, a girl with dark curly brunette hair donning ripped jeans and a black Beatles t-shirt stumbled in the throes of the crowd.

She looked around, almost dizzy. "Jacob?"

A man bumped into her and she fell to the ground. She felt hands pick her up by her elbows. "You okay?"

She stared up into warm brown eyes as the teenage boy who seemed to be her age pulled her up from the ground. "Yeah... what the hell is going on here?"

The boy looked around the crowd as she did. "I have no idea."

* * *

All the returnees from that day were rounded up by Homeland Security and put into quarantine where they were interviewed and logged into a system so that their cases could be sorted out as soon as possible and home sec could figure out where they came from.

Agent Baldwin sat with his new partner Diana Scourcis watching some of the interviews.

Tom stared at the young girl on the screen of the recorded interview. She sat in her gray uniform with her dark hair pulled up into a messy bun. She seemed tired and cranky and like this interview room was the last place she wanted to be.

"What is your name?" the agent asked her, the camera only showing her face.

The girl sighed, answering robotically. "Rhiannon. Amber. Mitchell."

"And where are you from, Rhiannon?" the guard asked her from the list of questions he'd been assigned.

"Centre Island, New York," Rhiannon answered in the same fashion, folding her arms across her chest.

"What date were you born?"

"July 5th, 1971," she answered, "I'm 17. But I've seen people who claim they're from the fifties or sixties around here and they don't look that ancient—so what's going on?"

"What date was it when you disappeared?"

"November… 24th or 25th, 1988," the girl enunciated, almost angrily as frustration built in her. "What year is it now? Why are you keeping us here? I wanna go home—I wanna see my family!"

"We are doing all we can to find your family but first we have to get all the information on who you are that we can," the agent calmly told her. "We need to identify you so we can notify your family of your whereabouts. Now—can you tell me what the last thing you remember is?"

The girl sighed, slightly placated. "I was on the back porch, at night, having a... joint. It's the eighties—everyone does it. I had just convinced my little brother Jacob to go back to bed and I was smoking for a few minutes and then—I'm at that mountain surrounded by thousands of strangers."

"So, for them, no time has past," Diana commented as the screen went black.

"So, between you and me," Tom said. "What do you think happened to them? Where do you think they've been?"

"I don't know." Diana shrugged. "There had to have been some kind of intelligence behind it."

"Was it the hand of God?" Tom mused. "Or little gray men?"

"I'm not discounting anything," Diana answered seriously. "But this girl, Rhiannon—there's something in her eyes. Like she knows something she's holding back."

"You think she knows who took her and the others?" Tom asked, not really believing a seventeen-year-old girl could have some part in this.

"That—or she wasn't really one of the innocently taken at all," Diana theorized, she grabbed another DVD and put it into the computer. "Here, look, here's an interesting one."

The little blonde girl, Maia, appeared one the screen. She looked sad. "They're dead, aren't they?"

"This is Maia Rutledge," Diana informed her partner. "She was the first one to disappear, as far as we can tell. She was eight years old, only she was born in 1938."

"I'll be okay," Maia frowned. "Mostly."

"She's a tough little kid," Diana sighed. "Then there's the only double disappearance."

"Double disappearance?" Tom repeated while Diana inputted a different DVD.

A woman holding a baby boy appeared on the screen. The baby was crying as his mother answered questions politely. "I'd like to see my husband. When can I see him?"

"Alice Ripley Bello," Diana recited. "Along with her son, Theodore Bello, she disappeared in 1946, a few months after Maia. We found her husband, Dominic Bello—he's 84, a year older than Alice is supposed to be."

"I want to see Dominic," Alice on the screen demanded. "He must be worried sick about us."

"Poor woman is in denial about how long she and her son have been away," Diana commented. "They haven't fully explained it to her yet."

"Look, there's one returnee I'd like to interview myself," Tom began.

Diana interrupted him, holding out a DVD. "Yeah, so I've been told. Returnee 1217, Shawn Farrell. He's all yours."

* * *

"All we're asking for is access," a woman spoke to Barbara Yates, a talk show. from the television sets Homeland Security set up for the returnees. "These people deserve to see their families and to receive legal representation. They're private citizens who've done nothing wrong."

"We don't know that," Yates argued as a former businessman peered up at the television. "It's been less than a week. For all we know, these people could be walking time bombs."

"She doesn't like us much," Maia spoke behind Orson.

He looked down at the little girl. "The feeling's mutual."

Shawn Farrell paced the floor as a black man sat at the table next to him reading National Geographic. He stared at the pages with shock. "The Secretary of State is colored?"

"Black," Shawn corrected him. "I'll take your word for it."

Richard, the other man, blew out a breath. "And the National Security Adviser too. Lord, the world sure has changed, since we've been gone." He looked up at Shawn. "You should try and relax, son. You're not going to get out of here any quicker by wearing a groove in the floor."

"You some kind of jailhouse philosopher?" Shawn asked wryly.

Richard grinned. "Barracks philosopher actually. I was a combat pilot in Korea."

"Nice tattoo," Shawn commented, noticing the red ink heart and black letters on Richard's arm. "Who's Lily?"

Richard glanced at the tattoo and frowned. "A girl I used to know."

A voice over the speakers sounded. "Shawn Farrell, report to interview room one."

Shawn clapped Richard on the shoulder, "I'll see you," and walked off.

At one of the other interview windows, Rhiannon Mitchell, scratched at her scalp as she glared desperately at the agent on the other side of the glass. "Look—I need to see a doctor. Before I was taken—I was diagnosed with this disease—Bipolar Disorder. I think that's what you called it. It's rare—I know—but I don't have the medication I need. I just need the pills to keep me sane—please."

"We'll contact the medical facilities right away," the agent assured her. "I just need you to try and stay calm until someone can come get you to take you to a doctor."

"I need to go now!" Rhiannon shouted. "Or take me to isolation or something. This is like a prison isn't it? You won't let us out—you won't let us make a god damn phone call for Christ's sake! Just get me out of here!" She shot out of her chair and banged her hand against the window just as Shawn walked by. "Get me out of here!"

Shawn caught sight of some of the guards rushing toward her with syringes. He jogged to her and grabbed her elbows like he had the night they all ended up at the mountain. "Hey, you gotta calm down, or I'm sure somewhere they've got a rubber room with your name on it."

"Whatever," Rhiannon spat at him. "It's not like I haven't been locked up in one before."

Shawn pressed his hand to her chin to make her look up at him. "You'll get whatever you want if you just calm down, okay?"

Rhiannon felt a bolt of energy hit her, calming down her nerves as she stopped fidgeting. "Okay."


	2. Chapter 2

Shawn sat slouched in a seat at a table, watching the news talk about court appeals for their release when he heard, "Excuse me?"

He turned to see the girl who had the freak out, timidly approaching him where he sat. He smiled disarmingly at her. "Hey, how are you feeling since last week?"

The girl took a seat next to him and smiled sarcastically. "I've got some new twenty-first century happy pills now. Pretty bitchin."

Shawn laughed at her terminology, causing the girl to give a confused look. Shawn smiled apologetically. "Sorry—that's just a word I've only heard my parents or uncles say. It's weird to hear it from someone my own age."

The girl shrugged. "I dropped off the face of the planet in '88. You?"

"2001," Shawn told her.

"Well from the TV I get the gist that it's 2004, so you haven't missed that much," the girl assured him, "I'm Rhiannon Mitchell—Rio for short."

Shawn shook her hand. "Shawn Farrell."

* * *

"What is your name, son?" An agent interviewed a nine-year-old boy.

"My name is Davey," the little boy answered. "Summers. I live in Newcastle. Can I see my brother? His name is Ben."

"As soon as we can get a hold of your family, we will let them know where you are," the agent told him. "Can you tell me the last thing you remember?"

"I was at the park with Ben," Davey said. "He said we needed to get back home. I didn't want to go but I knew we had to. That's the last thing I remember."

* * *

"Shhh... shhh..." Alice cooed to her baby boy as he wailed and wailed in her arms. The doctors in quarantine just looked him over and he didn't like them very much. Alice wanted to cry as well. They had finally explained to her that it was 2004 and her husband had grown old without her. He was 84 now, had a whole new family in Eureka after she and baby Teddy disappeared.

They gave her a file of information on her husband's life after she was taken. He got remarried to a polish woman in 1951, five years after she went missing and two years after she and Teddy had been declared dead. He had paid for a tombstone dedicated to her and Teddy and held their funeral with his new wife by his side. He had two sons with her. They had all been notified of her and Teddy turning up in Seattle. And she was told that they would send someone to meet her.

Alice felt her heart break when she read about Dominic's depression. He had gone crazy with grief, trying to find them, not letting any expense be wasted. He hired multiple Private Investigators. He begged the police to continue their search. He even tracked down the only boy she'd dated before him and almost beat him to death, accusing him of stealing his family. Unfortunately, Cole – her ex – had fought back and they both landed in the hospital where, Mary Frank, Dominic's second wife, was a nurse.

Alice was happy that he'd found happiness in his life again. That he had a full life after he grieved for her. She almost didn't want to see him. But she knew he deserved to see that she was safe. That she wasn't dead. She simply wanted to tell him how much she loves him one more time.

"Please stop crying, Teddy," Alice whimpered, kissing her baby on his head.

"Mama—mama," Teddy whined. "Da—da."

"I know you miss your daddy, I know," Alice whispered. "But it'll be okay. It has to be."

* * *

"Hey there, Maia," Rio greeted the little girl as she approached her. "What's up?"

"It's almost four," Maia told her.

Rio looked up at the clock distractedly, "Oh—right. I need to go take a pill." She went to stand up but paused and faced the little girl. "How'd you know that?"

Maia shrugged and walked away, leaving Rio to watch after her a little perturbed.

* * *

"Excuse me?" Rio asked sitting at a window where a bored looking agent sat. "I just wanted to check in on if you've found any family of mine. Jacob must be... twenty-something by now."

"What's your name again?" the agent asked.

"Rhiannon Mitchell," She answered patiently, hoping beyond hope that they'd found her family. "I was in New York when I disappeared, I doubt my family left Centre Island."

The agent called her name out to another and a moment later he was brought a file. He scanned his eyes over the printed pages before looking at Rio with a frown on his face. "Miss Mitchell... I'm sorry to have to tell you this..."

* * *

Rio sat numbly at a table, staring a picture in her hands. Without even realizing, she was humming to herself. She couldn't name the tune. Just something that had been rolling around in her head since she ended up on that damned mountain. Shawn caught sight of her as he made his way from one of the interview windows and sat down next to her. He smiled when he saw the picture, seeing a blonde blue eyed woman sitting next to a brown curly haired man, a young blonde boy and a slightly younger version of the girl that sat next to him now. "Hey, look, they found your family."

Rio nodded. "Yeah—do you have family waiting on the other side?"

"My mom and brother Danny," Shawn told her. "My Uncle Tom is in Homeland Security too—though they all seem to have thought that I ran off after putting my cousin Kyle into a coma."

"Your cousin's in a coma?" Rio repeated, momentarily distracted.

Shawn frowned and nodded. "Yeah. We were drinking by the beach when I was taken. Apparently since that day Kyle's been unconscious."

"I'm sorry," Rio whispered.

Shawn changed the subject. "So, they found your family. They must be thrilled to hear you're alive."

"If only," Rio muttered, clutching the photograph. "They're all dead."

Shawn gaped at her, before frowning solemnly. "Oh my god—I'm sorry."

Rio fought back tears. "The night I disappeared; I was smoking a joint. It was the eighties; everyone smoked a bit of weed now and then. I had just got caught rolling it when my little brother Jacob came out. He didn't even know what I was doing. I just told him that the thing in my hand was meant to calm me down. I convinced him to go back to bed and waited for ten minutes before lighting up."

A tear made its way down her cheek. Rio reached up to wipe it away. "The joint didn't make it with me when I was taken. It fell into a window planter. My mom was big on gardening. She had plants and pots and crap like that all over the house. The joint caught the house on fire."

"Oh my god," Shawn whispered, putting a hand on Rio's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Rio."

"They told me Jacob must've woken up during it. He must have tried to wake up my parents. But they both took pretty heavy sleeping pills and it was only around midnight. They weren't even close to waking up. He—he must have tried to find me." She started crying heavily, sniffing and wiping under her eyes. "But I wasn't there. He tripped going down the stairs and hit his head. Autopsy report said the blow to the head is what killed him. Smoke inhalation killed my parents before they had a chance to wake up."

Shawn put his arms around her shoulders as she laid her head on his chest, her tears getting his gray shirt slightly damp.

"It's all my fault."

Shawn pulled her to face him. "No, it isn't. It's whoever or – whatever took us and dumped us all here. It's their fault, not yours."

Rio wiped under her eyes and sniffed. "To everyone back home it is. Because of my—condition... I had a lot of mood swings. Smoked a lot of weed to get through them. But mostly I lashed out at my parents and any other authority figure. After I disappeared—after the fire... the police declared me missing and then dead six years later. But the town, my mom's sister and her family... they all thought I succumbed to another episode, started the fire on purpose, and ran off to become a rock band groupie or something."

She sniffed again. "My Aunt Tessa was called by the agents. She said she didn't believe my story; she didn't believe it was really me and that she didn't want me anywhere near her and her family. The only family I have left hates me."

"Then that's their problem," Shawn told her. "The fire was an accident—it was not your fault. Screw your Aunt."

"What am I supposed to do when we get out of here, Shawn?" Rio asked him quietly. "I have nowhere to go."

"It'll be okay." Shawn hugged her to him. "It'll all be okay."

* * *

The large room full of returnees erupted into whispers of excitement. "Did you hear?" Shawn asked his close friend, Rio, with a big smile on his face. "They're letting us all go."

"I know," Rio sighed, a bit less excited than her friend. "I'm staying."

Shawn's smile faltered into a confused frown. "What?"

Rio smiled feebly. "I have nowhere to go, Shawn. They're letting those of us who want to, stay here. We all have to check in weekly anyway. There's no reason for me to leave."

"But..." Shawn searched for something to say, coming up short.

"Don't be so down, Shawn," Rio took his hand in both of hers. "You can come visit me when you check in, anyway."

* * *

"We're letting them go?" Diana asked incredulously. "They've only been back six weeks. It's too soon."

"Well the ninth circuit court of appeal has upheld the lawsuit by the ACLU on behalf of the families," their superior, Ryland, told her. "We don't have a legal right to hold them."

Another agent joined in on the conversation. "Okay, but some of these people have no place to go. No families left."

Agent Sid agreed. "The word is, Egypt and China are refusing to repatriate it's citizens. India's on the fence."

"Well, wait a minute," Ryland broke into the discussion, "we're not kicking anybody out. Whoever wants to stay, can stay. As far as American citizens, whoever leaves will get whatever assistance is required, to get their life back on track. Medicare, unemployment, rent vouchers, vocational training."

"Vocational training?" Diana asked sarcastically. "We need to isolate these people."

Tom spoke from his position by the door. "They're not virus samples, they're human beings."

"Agent," another man walked into the room, holding a phone away from his ear with a hand over the mouthpiece, "Your nephew—Shawn Ferrell—is demanding to speak with you."

* * *

"What are you talking about?" Tom hissed into the phone.

"Rhiannon Mitchell, one of the returnees, she's my friend," Shawn repeated. "She has nowhere to go after this. No family that will take her. No employer that will hire her with her condition and status. She didn't get to finish high school—like me. And it'll be even harder for her to catch up on all this lost time. She's my age. She just needs a place to stay. Can you talk to mom?"

"I doubt your mother is going to want to take in a seventeen-year-old girl to stay under the same roof with her two seventeen-year-old sons," Tom sarcastically answered.

Shawn sighed into the phone. "Look—the girl has lost everything. Everything but the clothes she was wearing when she was taken. You should have seen the way she talked about her brother—she loved the kid more than anything and she blames herself for his death and her parents' deaths. I can't leave her alone."

"My hands are tied here, Shawn," Tom frustratingly told him.

"All I know is that I can't leave her to rot in here," Shawn answered. "So, if she's got no place to go—I'm staying in here with her."

"You can't do that to your mom and Danny," Tom said, shocked. "They thought you were dead for three years—and now you're gonna stay away from them?"

"They can visit me," Shawn suggested. "But Rio deserves someone looking out for her. And I guess that's me."

* * *

"What?" Susan gasped into her phone. "What do you mean he won't come home?"

Danny had just walked into the kitchen with his girlfriend Nikki and frowned when he saw him mom looking about to cry. "Mom, who is it? Is it Shawn?"

Susan sniffed. "But... but—we just got him back."

"I know," Tom sighed into his cell phone. "Is there any way you can find room for her? Your couch may be good enough."

"I can't condone that," Susan gasped. "We don't have the room or the money, Tom."

"What's going on, mom?" Danny demanded.

Susan sniffed, pulling the phone a little way from her ear. "Your Uncle says Shawn is refusing to leave his friend Rhiannon alone in quarantine. She has no place to go and he's insisting we find room for her."

"What?" Danny asked, shocked. "He's not coming back?"

"Not unless we can find a place for this girl," Susan sighed frustratedly.

Nikki looked between her boyfriend and his mother with concern. "My house."

Both of them looked at her but her boyfriend asked her. "What do you mean?"

"Let me talk to my parents," Nikki offered. "We have a spare room and my parents have talked about taking in a foster child. It should be perfect."

* * *

Rhiannon watched as the guards handed out plastic bags with tags with names on them to people in quarantine. They were getting their own clothes back. Rhiannon stared at her own zip-lock bag that contained all she owned now. Some ripped jeans, underwear, a black Beatles T-shirt and some worn out sneakers. That was all she had now.

"Hey Rio," Shawn smiled down at her, holding his own bag of clothes. "Aren't you gonna change?"

Rio shrugged. "No point. I'm not going anywhere."

Shawn grinned down at her. "Are you sure about that?"

Rio surveyed him from her seat. "Why is your face doing that?"

Shawn shrugged innocently. "Maybe because I arranged for you to stay with my next-door neighbors and they're waiting with my mom and Danny for us when the doors open."

Rio gaped up at him, shocked at what he'd said to her. "Are you shitting me right now, man?"

Shawn chuckled at her language and shook his head. "No shit here."

Rio launched her arm around his neck in a viper's grip. "Oh my—Shawn!" She pulled back and smiled at him, tears swimming in her eyes. "I can't thank you enough."

"No need to thank me at all." Shawn smiled at how happy he'd made her. "Let's go home."

"Home?" Rio tried the word out, hoping she really was heading home.

* * *

Susan and Danny stood with Mr. and Mrs. Hudson and Nikki, holding up signs with assigned numbers so that Shawn and Rhiannon could find them in the crowd of other family members. They watched in rapt attention and anticipation as throngs of returnees walked out into the hallway, either to reunite with groups of family members with signs like theirs or to walk outside and line up at buses ready to take them to wherever they wanted to go.

Shawn stood with a comforting hand around Rio's shoulders as they waited in line for their number. They both strung the lanyards over their necks and followed the crowds of people into the room of waiting families.

Shawn felt a tug on his hand and looked back to see that Rio had stopped walking. She looked troubled. Shawn frowned in concern. "What's wrong, Rio?"

"What if they don't like me?" Rio asked him, worried. "My own family hates me. I'm so different than the people our age now—I'll stick out like a cheerleader at a Led Zepplin concert."

Shawn grinned at her simile. "Don't worry—it'll be fine. I'll be with you every second of the first meet and I'll be one house over if you ever need me. I promise."

Rio stared between him and the open doors, nodding determinedly. "Okay—let's do this."

Shawn led her into the crowd, looking around for his mother and brother. He smiled excitedly when he caught sight of them and rushed toward them, tugging Rio behind him. "Hey mom! Danny!"

Susan cried out ecstatically when she saw her eldest son, Danny smiling with her as Shawn threw his arms around them in a vice-like grip. "Oh my baby!"

Shawn pulled away with a happy smile. "Guys this is Rhiannon." He pulled her to his side and then gestured to his family and family friends. "Rio, this is my mom, Susan. My brother Danny."

Susan and Rio shook hands. "It's nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Farrell," Rio said with a shy smile.

"I'm just so glad Shawn's had a friend in here," Susan thanked her, wrapping her arms around the out-of-time girl.

Rio awkwardly patted her back. "He's been a good friend to me too."

Susan pulled away from her and gestured to their friends. "This is George and Sarah Hudson and their daughter Nikki. You'll be staying with them."

"I can't tell you how much this means to me, Mr. and Mrs. Hudson." Rio brushed her unruly curls out of her face, averting her eyes to the ground.

The other woman stood forward and pulled Rio's eyes up to look at her. "It's George and Sarah. And our home is your home now."

"Home," Rio stuttered. "Sounds nice."

* * *

Little nine-year-old Davey stumbled through the crowd, looking around the people for his family. His ears perked up when he heard someone call out his name. "Davey!"

His eyes widened when he saw an older version of his big brother Ben waving frantically for his attention and racing through the people towards him. Davey smiled excitedly and ran towards his brother. Ben practically picked him up from the ground in a tight embrace. "Oh my god, Davey, I knew it was you. I knew you would come back."

Davey smiled up at him when he was let back on the ground. "You never stopped looking for me."

"Not for one second," Ben swore.

* * *

Alice nervously surveyed the depleting crowd, peering down at the laminated number tag they'd given her and looking around for someone carrying a stick with the same tag on it. She held Teddy on her hip and shouldered her baby bag with government issued diapers, bottles, toys, etc. She was touched by the female agents who went out of their way to help her with Theodore while inside quarantine.

She watched all the reunions around her. People being reunited with what was left of their families after years away, happy and smiling. And she knew she wouldn't get that.

"Alice Bello?" Alice whipped her head to the voice and for a moment, she thought she'd just woken up from a horrible long nightmare and was seeing her husband in front of her. Teddy clapping and smiling jolted her out of her trance as she took in the man before her, holding a sign that matched her number.

He looked nearly identical to her Dominic. He had the same tan skin and dark brown hair. The warm, chocolate brown eyes that Dominic could use to take her breath away since she was sixteen years old. He was peering at her with those chocolate brown eyes. And she saw him double check the number around her neck before asking again. "You are Alice Bello, right?"

The only difference is that he lacked the touch of Italian in his voice. His voice sounded utterly American, no accent.

"You're not him," was her devastating answer. "You look like him, just like Dominic—but you're not him, are you?"

The man frowned. "I'm Ethan—his grandson. My father sent me to pick you up."

Teddy tiredly laid his head in his mother's neck, his little eyes blinking as he started to snooze. Alice shifted him so he could be more comfortable and nodded to the man. "It's... nice to meet you, Ethan. I'm Alice—and this is Teddy."

"Here," Ethan offered his hand out for her bag. "Let me take that." He shouldered the bag, taking his car keys out of his pocket. "My car's parked outside."

* * *

"This place is rad," Rio commented as Nikki and her parents led the girl into the house from the garage.

"Rad?" Nikki furrowed her eyebrows at the girl as they entered the kitchen through the garage door.

"I'm gonna have to learn all the new lingo, aren't I?" Rio grumbled. "So bogus."

"You'll fit right in with the parents," Sarah grinned. "My husband hangs onto all our old slang no matter how much Nikki and Danny make fun of him."

"What?" George shrugged. "We were righteous back in the day."

"Don't, dad," Nikki giggled.

"Besides I'm nobody's mom," Rio shivered. "I'd only be like 33 right now anyway. Never planned on kids."

"Well you have a second chance, now," Sarah told her. "Let's just start with getting you acclimated."

"Cool beans," Rio commented. "But... do you think I could take a shower?"

"Of course, I'll show you where it is," Nikki offered, showing her towards the stairs.

"And we're throwing a welcome home party for you and Shawn tomorrow," Sarah told the girls. "I'm sure Nikki can give you some clothes to borrow before we take you shopping."

"You don't have to-" Rio started to protest.

George waved his hand at her. "Please. You and Nikki can't share one wardrobe—it's okay, on us."

Rio shifted from foot to foot timidly before reluctantly smiling. "Righteous."

* * *

"Now you have to be quiet, Davey," Ben warned his brother. "Dad's gonna be asleep. I haven't had a chance to move out yet because I couldn't afford it. But now that you're back, I can focus of getting us the life we deserve. For now, we hide you from dad."

"He doesn't know I'm back," Davey stated as if he knew.

Ben sighed. "He can't know. Come on."

* * *

After a tremendously long and awkward drive to Eureka, Ethan finally pulled up to a hospital. "I figured you'd want to see him first thing."

Alice trembled as Ethan signed them in as visitors and led her down the hallway. The walls were white and the floor tiles blue and she smelled nothing but antiseptic which she randomly remembered made her nauseous while she was pregnant with Teddy. Teddy wiggled in her arms, as if he knew where they were going. Ethan paused in front of the door, looking behind him towards the woman and her baby before pushing the door open.

Alice held back her gasp when she saw him—her Dominic. He laid in the hospital bed, wires poked into his arm and a tube under his nose. She heard monotonous beeping as Ethan approached his grandfather. "Grandad?" Ethan asked in a soft voice.

"I see them, Ethan," Dominic gasped, the beeping becoming a fraction faster. "I see my Alice—my baby boy. They must be angels."

Alice felt her eyes grow moist. "I'm no angel, love."

"Alice?" Dominic rasped, his hand reaching toward her. "Alice?"

Ethan stepped back as Alice slowly approached Dominic's bedside until she stood right in front of him. "Yes, my love, it's me—it's us."

"You're here," Dominic cried, reaching his hand until it caressed her cheek. "You're really here."

Alice cried and nodded. "Yes, I'm here. We're both here. I'm sorry—I'm so sorry that it took us this long to come back."

"You're so beautiful," Dominic breathed. "You haven't changed one bit." His eyes trailed to the still wiggling baby in her arms. "Is that Theodore?"

Alice nodded, holding Teddy so he was facing his father, who was really old enough to be his great-grandfather now. "This is Teddy. He hasn't really changed that much either. The terrible twos are tamer than we thought they would be."

"I can't believe you're really here," Dominic stared at her. "I looked for you—I tried everything-"

"I know," Alice cut him off, "I know, honey, I know. I know everything you did for us. I wish you didn't have to."

"Do you still love me, doll?" Dominic suddenly asked.

Alice stopped short at the memories that question brought back, a smile erupting on her face. Whenever they'd get into a fight, Alice tended to shun him until he apologized. He always came with a gift, said he was sorry, and asked her if she still loved him. And she always gave him the same answer.

"Yes, of course, stolto [fool], I never stopped." She stroked his face. "I'm sorry it took me so long to tell you that again."

Dominic laid his hand over hers on his cheek. "You were always fashionably late—and so beautiful for it."

* * *

"I hope you're okay with this." Shawn peered down at his friend as he handed her a cup of water in his kitchen, before making his way out into the party with her again.

Rio managed to find something her style in Nikki's closet. A plaid hooded shirt, some jeans that were a little too tight and she wore her own sneakers. She pulled her messy curls into a bun towards the top of her head, but some wisps of hair still escaped into her eyes anyway.

Shawn's little – well really not so little anymore – brother, Danny, clambered into the kitchen. "Come on, man, you guys can't miss your own party."

"Chill out, dude, we're coming," Rio grumbled, taking a sip of her drink.

Shawn chuckled at the exchanged and walked out with them into the throng of people. People reached out to him, excited to have him back. He dutifully answered their greetings. "Hey guys, it's good to see you."

"I'm sorry your buddies didn't show up," Danny told Shawn as they approached a snack table towards the back of the house. "I guess most of them are away at college."

"They're just jealous that I get to enjoy two more years of high school," Shawn grinned.

Rio groaned. "High School again? Don't we get, like, acquitted or something? Being time travelers and all?"

"High School's not that bad." Nikki approached them, coming to stand at Danny's side as he put his arm around her waist.

"I'm so sure." Rio rolled her eyes, taking another drink.

Diana and Tom stood off towards the front of the family room, sipping drinks and standing side by side. Diana idly looked around the room, awkwardly avoiding eye contact with any of the strangers surrounding her. "Why did you bring me here?"

"I thought it would put a human face on the returnee's for you. Remind you they're people—not virus'," Tom remarked.

Rhiannon made her way over to them. "Agent Man. I just wanted to thank you for whatever strings you pulled to get the Hudsons to take me in. I really had nowhere to go."

"It was worth it so Shawn could keep his friend," Tom told her with a smile.

"Cool." Rio waved a small wave and made her way back to the table when she noticed Shawn excuse himself and escape to the back porch.

She walked outside to see him sitting on the porch. "Are you really leaving me with all these strangers? Totally not even dude."

The corner of his lips lifted in a small smile as he shrugged. "Just had to get away from everyone. Fresh air, you know?"

Rio dropped next to him. "Yeah—it's a little heavy."

"Heavy?" Shawn smirked at her.

"I guess that word didn't survive the test of time either," Rio huffed. "So bogus."

Shawn laughed at her. "So... do you think you'll like it here? With the Hudsons?"

Rio sighed and shrugged. "I don't know. I just feel so... out of place. And now I'm sleeping in a house full of strangers who just smile at me like I'm a new pet."

"They're just being welcoming," Shawn excused them. "It'll take a little getting used to."

"I know," Rio sighed. "I know—I have nothing against them or anything. It's just still feels like I was in that back porch, rolling a joint with Jacob and my parents just inside. And now instead of them, it's the Hudsons sleeping down the hall while I feel the need to smoke. Have you heard that smoking doesn't just cause lung cancer? It messes you up in all sorts of ways."

"Yeah," Shawn chuckled. "Everyone knows that."

"Well—now they do," Rio told him. "In the 80s, we just thought it caused cancer. I figured weed won't kill me. But apparently secondhand smoke kills too. My dad smoked like a chimney—it's a miracle he didn't burn down the house before I did."

They heard footsteps behind them and saw Tom walking out, handing them each a soda. "You guys look thirsty."

"Thanks," Shawn took the drinks, handing the other to Rio.

"I just wanted you to know," Tom began, somewhat awkwardly. "I really am glad you're back."

"Whatever, Uncle Tom," Shawn scoffed, still burned that his Uncle thought he was the reason Kyle was in a coma. "I mean..."

He was interrupted by the loud smack of a bird flying right into the window and falling with a quiet thump to the ground. Rio practically jumped out of her skin, startled. "What the hell?"

"Geez," Shawn agreed, standing to pick the bird up off the floor, feeling it up for injuries.

Tom observed the flimsiness of the bird's corpse. "Neck's broken."

Shawn nodded. "Reflection must have confused him, huh?"

"Why don't you guys come back inside?" Tom suggested. "You're missing your own party."

"I know," Shawn shrugged. "It's just weird being in there."

The bird suddenly woke up and flew out of Shawn's hand. They all stared after it in confusion and shock. Shawn swallowed nervously. "Guess he was just stunned."

"Yeah, yeah," Tom agreed, though something else was in his voice as he agreed. "I guess so."

Shawn looked between his Uncle and Rio, "We'll see you in there," and took her hand and tugged her inside.

* * *

Rhiannon sighed as she flopped in bed, unable to get any sleep. She threw off the green and purple comforter Nikki had picked out for her and strung on one of George's old Stanford sweatshirts and snuck downstairs. She walked past the kitchen and out the backdoor. Her fingers fidgeted in the sweatshirt pocket, itching to roll a joint. She licked her lips as she spotted the wooden gate door that was built to let Nikki into the Farrells' backyard.

She walked over to it and pushed it open, to be graced with the sight of Shawn reclining in a lawn chair on his own. He looked up upon the noise of her arrival and smiled. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

Rio shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. Thought you'd be back here."

"How'd you know?" he asked her.

"Just a feeling," Rio told him. "I wanted to thank you anyway."

"For what?" Shawn asked.

"Nikki told me what you did to pull this all off," Rio told him. "How you told Tom that you'd stay with me in quarantine unless I was taken care of. I mean—it was a bogus move to pull with your family. But it still means a lot to me that you'd do that for me."

"You're my friend," Shawn told her easily. "I feel... responsible for you."

Rio shyly walked closer to him, brushing her unruly curls back with her fingers before timidly sitting herself in Shawn's lap with faux confidence and wrapping her arms around his neck. "You've been such a great friend to me Shawn. And you're the only person I can really talk to about everything that's happened to us—because you're going through it all too. But I'm glad we don't have to go through it alone."

Shawn smiled, blushing a little at her proximity, "Me too," slowly leaning closer to her until their lips met in an unhurried first kiss.

Nikki brushed her hair as she peered out her window from her room at the back of the house. Her eyes trailed the night view until they fell on Shawn and Rio kissing in a lawn chair in the Farrell's backyard. She ignored the dull pang of jealousy and hurried away from the window.

Shawn and Rio slowly kissed each other until they heard a loud noise from the front of the house. Rio broke their contact, breathing, "What was that?"

Shawn stood them both up and grabbed Rio's hand, rushing them through the yard to the front of the house, pushing open his gate and walking to the sidewalk to see that someone messed up his car. The tires had been slashed and the front dented as well as the word 'FREAK' spray painted in white all over.

Rio gasped. "Who the hell did this?"

Shawn cured, running his hands through his short hair in anger. "I have no idea."


	3. Chapter 3

Tom, Diana and Ryland stood over a monitor as it brought up a picture of a 40-something, balding man.

"That's him," Ryland cursed. "That's Orson Bailey."

"Bailey?" Tom thought out loud. "Some kind of businessman, right?"

"Right," Ryland nodded.

"Life insurance?" Tom guessed.

"Yeah," Ryland confirmed.

"Disappeared in the 70's," Diana added in.

"'79," Ryland semi-corrected. "Declared dead in '86. Seattle police are holding him in connection with a homicide in Madison Park, last night."

"Do they know he's one of the 4400?" Tom asked.

Ryland frowned. "Bailey told them. That's why they called us."

"Well, I thought the returnees were told not to discuss their status?" Diana looked at her boss. She still wanted to stick them all in quarantine and study them.

"Well, we counsel them to avoid it," Ryland elaborated, "if they possibly can, but we were talking job interviews and housing applications. There's not really a protocol for being questioned about a murder."

"He said holding, not charging." Tom looked at him, a serious expression setting into his features.

"That's right," Ryland answered, "there are some conflicting reports about what actually went on at the crime scene."

"We'll check it out," Tom said as Diana stood and put on her blazer.

"Quietly," Ryland ordered. "I don't want to be dodging microphones at the six o' clock news."

"Quietly it is," Tom agreed.

* * *

"I still can't believe they're making us go to high school," Rio groaned as she and Shawn walked up the stone steps filled with other teenage busy bodies. "Aren't we special circumstances or something? Can't we skip it?"

Shawn chuckled at her lack of enthusiasm. "These days you need at least a high school degree to get an okay job. A college degree to get a good one."

"Can't we pull the—I was actually abducted by aliens card?" Rio turned to him once they reached the front doors. "This place was torture for me in the eighties—I doubt it's going to be any different now."

"It'll be fine," Shawn assured her. "I'll be with you every moment I can."

"Promise?" Rio looked up at him.

Shawn smiled gently at her, leaning down to peck a kiss on her lips. "I promise." He then took her hand and led her inside, veering for his locker first.

Rio was painfully aware of all the stares they were getting. She guessed in this place with how known Shawn was, there was no hiding in anonymity for her. She also heard the whispers.

_It's him._

_The freak._

_It's Shawn Farrell—I wonder if he'd give me a chance now that we're the same age._

_Who's that girl?_

_She must be one of them._

_One of the freaks._

Rio cringed as Shawn opened his locker. A boy with tan skin and dark black hair strut up to them, eyeing Shawn with his two lackeys behind him. "Look who floated in on a ball of light." He grinned when Shawn turned to look at him. "Remember me?"

Shawn put on a fake smile. "Rossi. Hi. It looks like the steroids finally kicked in."

The boy was still a few inches shorter than Shawn but built like he'd been smaller and sprouted to good looks in the middle of his high school career. He maliciously laughed at Shawn's jab. "Funny man, funny. I always did appreciate your sense of humor. But that time you sold me those concert tickets, right before you disappeared."

"To see the Foo Fighters?" Shawn asked, vaguely remembering the transaction. "How was the show?"

Brad Rossi glared at him. "The police were waiting for me when I showed up. The tickets were stolen man—you got me arrested!" He charged at Shawn and slammed him into the lockers, pressing his face against the metal.

"Hey—what's your damage?" Rio shouted at the bully. "Who the hell cares about stolen tickets?"

"Well I had 5 tabs of ect's on me," Brad glared at her, turning to stare at her. "I had to pee—into a cup—once a week—for two years, because of your boyfriend here."

"It's not his fault you're doing the wrong drugs, man," Rio protested when she heard Nikki and Danny running up to the scene.

"Come on, get off of him!" Danny yelled.

"It's between me and your brother," Brad hissed at the shorter boy.

"Yeah?" He challenged. "Well I'm making it between you and me."

Brad looked at Danny with dangerous anger under his face before pushing Shawn deeper into the cold lockers before shoving off of him. "See you around, freak," he spat and started walking away. He paused, though, and turned back to Shawn with a smirk. "Oh by the way, I like the new paint job on your ride." And then he turned and actually walked away.

"You okay?" Nikki asked in concern.

"Fine," Shawn frowned, looking around at all the onlookers still staring.

"Can you help me find my locker?" Rio asked him, to take his mind off all the whirring thoughts of self-loathing in his head.

"Sure, come on," Shawn murmured, grabbing her hand, and leading her down the hallway.

* * *

"Oh, Dom, you have such a beautiful family," Alice graciously commented as she laid by Domininc's bedside while he showed her the many pictures of his children and grandchildren. Alice held back to gut wrenching instinct to cry at the thought of him having a life after she was taken. But deep down, and just on the surface, she understood. She was happy that he moved on and was happy. She would have wanted it that way if she had really died. She was sadder that Teddy didn't get to grow up with his father. She wished she was the only one taken if someone needed to be taken. But on one hand, she was happy she could at least keep her son, if she were to lose her husband.

"They were much too like me for their own good," Dom grinned. "Always getting into trouble. Drove Mary up the wall."

"What happened to her?" Alice asked quietly.

"She died," Dom answered slowly. "Lost to cancer... about seven years ago."

"Dada," Teddy murmured in her arms, wiggling closer to Dominic.

"Look at our boy," Dominic smiled fondly as Alice conceded to the baby's wants and laid him on the man's chest. "He still recognizes his father, even when he looks like a shriveled-up raisin."

Ethan sat in one of the chairs, and chuckled at his grandfather's self-description. "I was thinking more along the lines of a leather handbag."

"You both," Alice playfully scolded, "Stop it." She leaned over Dom's chest to look at their baby. "Are you excited to see Daddy?"

Teddy laughed, clapping his hands against Dominic's chest. "Yeah!"

The couple laughed at their son's enthusiasm, Ethan watching with a sad expression on his face. He felt awful for this woman, watching her husband die of old age when she had just seen him young and alive and in love with her. Her whole life was ripped out from under her.

"Caro," Dominic addressed Alice seriously. "I still have all the albums and scrapbooks you made for us."

"You do?" Alice looked at him with fondness.

"Of course, love," Dom told her. "Every one. I want you to have them. I want you to have everything from our life together."

Alice teared up, reaching to cup his face in her hand. "I love you so much, Dominic. I'm so sorry this had to happen."

Dominic reached up and brought her hands to his lips to kiss her palm. "I have you now, caro."

* * *

Rhiannon sat in the back of class, tapping her pencil on her blank notebook as the English Teacher droned on about Hemingway.

"Can anyone tell me what writer style Hemingway pioneered?" Mrs. Conway asked the class.

_Minimalism._

"Minimalism," Rio repeated out loud.

The students in the seats in front of her all turned in their desks to stare at her. Mrs. Conway at the front looked at her with a little confusion. "That's... correct, Miss...?"

"Mitchell," Rio answered. "Rhiannon Mitchell."

"Have you read Hemingway before?" the teacher asked curiously.

Rio shook her head. "Nope."

The classmates of hers started whispering to their desk neighbors.

_She's one of them._

_One of the 4400._

_Freak._

* * *

Nikki and Rio clambered out Nikki's car she got as a sweet sixteen present. "So, how'd you like your first day of high school? Is it very different than 1988?" Nikki asked.

Rio rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't really know. I think people are intrusive starrers in any decade when the alien abductee dare show their face in the halls with the normal people."

"Forget them," Nikki tried to comfort her. "They're just a bunch of idiot teenagers."

"You do realize we're teenagers too," Rio told her sarcastically as Nikki let them into the house through the front door.

Nikki chuckled. "Yeah—but we're not idiots."

"True."

The girls walked in to see Sarah in the kitchen. The mother smiled at them. "Hey girls, how was school? Rio, how was your first day?"

"Let's not get into that," Rio begged with a groan, stringing her book bag on her shoulder and walking up the stairs toward her room.

Sarah looked at her daughter, wincing. "That bad?"

Nikki shrugged. "Some people stared and whispered. I just think it got to her a little bit."

"Poor girl has gone through so much already," Sarah whispered, scrubbing the stove as she spoke. "One day she's with her family and then she ends up on a mountain sixteen years later to find out her family is dead, and she has to catch up on all this lost time. So, much change."

"She's tough," Nikki mused. "She'll be fine."

* * *

Rio sighed in bed again, not getting any sleep. It seemed every time the sun went down, she remembered the last night she saw and spoke to Jacob before she disappeared. Before she was disappeared. It was the last time she saw him and the last time she'd ever see him again.

She kicked her blankets from her feet and slipped out of bed, this time in just shorts and a tank top, feeling flushed if anything. She crept down the stairs and out the back door. She walked towards the Farrell's backyard door and pushed it open, walking in to see Shawn, once again, reclining on a lawn chair.

"Back out here?" Rio greeted her something-more-than-a-friend.

Shawn smiled at her. "So are you. Couldn't sleep still?"

Rio shrugged, taking her perch on his lap and reclining so her back was against his chest. He immediately wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. "It's still weird to sleep in any other bed than my own. I wake up sometimes in the middle of the night and expect Jacob to come in any minute to sleep next to me. Kid had nightmares from all the horror movies dad let him watch. He'd always come sleep with me because he knew I'd wake up and calm him down."

"I still half-expect Kyle to call me to go drink beer at Highland again," Shawn admitted. "I haven't gone to see him yet."

Rio leaned her forehead against his chin, staring off into the night. "I'll go with you—if you want."

Shawn tightened his arms around her. "I'd like that."

* * *

On another school day the hallway was bustling with students.

Shawn jogged down one of the many staircases on the way to his next class, which he was glad he'd be meeting Rio in, when he heard someone call his name. "Shawn!"

He turned to see little Nikki walking down the steps behind him to catch up. He smiled friendlily at her. "Hey, how you doing? What's up?"

"Good," Nikki said with a sweet smile. "Rio told me about your car—did you get it fixed?"

"It's gonna be in the shop for about a week," Shawn told her.

"Yeah," Nikki murmured before launching into her ulterior motive. "You know, Danny and I are going to a party tonight at Irvin Chobey's house. You should come."

Shawn grimaced at the thought and hesitantly shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Why not?" Nikki smiled encouragingly at him.

"Um, well," Shawn started, scratching the back of his head, "they're gonna be listening to music I've never listened to. Talking about movies I've never seen. School is bad enough. Partying with a bunch of runts from..."

"Is that how you saw me?" Nikki interrupted him with mock indignation. "A runt?"

Shawn shrugged as they got to the ground floor. "You were fourteen, Nikki."

"And now?" Nikki posed for him.

Saved by the bell became literal as the class bell chimed through the halls and Shawn started backing away. "I'm late for class."

* * *

Shawn and Rio sat in the back of their math class, trying to pay attention. But everything went over Shawn's head and Rio couldn't help but notice all the stares and whispers they were getting.

_It's them._

_The aliens._

_The 4400._

"Find x," the teacher at the front finished his explanation and dictation of a long equation. "I'll give you 5 minutes." The teacher sat down and scribbled on a piece of paper as the class set to work to figure out the complicated equation.

_X equals 46._

"X is 46?" Rio murmured out loud. Unfortunately, not softly enough as the students looked at her in utter shock.

"Mr. Matthews?" a mousy looking blonde with thick rimmed glasses raised her hand. "Is x, 46?"

Mr. Matthews looked up in shock. "Yes, Amy, good work."

The blonde girl shook her head. "No—I heard Rhiannon say it in the back."

Rio wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole right then and there. But she wasn't so lucky.

_Alien chick is a genius too?_

_Sexy and smart—just how I like 'em._

_Freak!_

Rio felt a pounding build in her head. The whispers getting louder and echoing off the outskirts of her skull. Rio cringed in pain and jumped out of her seat with her book bag in hand, wanting to get far away from these people. She stormed out of the classroom, jogging down the hallway, ignoring Shawn calling out her name. "Rio! Rio—wait!"

Rio felt tears building in her eyes as she stopped, crashing into some lockers from an unseen force. She gasped and panted harshly as Shawn ran up to her, gathering her in his arms. "Hey, it's okay. Just tell me what happened in there."

"I can't—I can't be in there," Rhiannon stammered, trying to shake the whispers away. "All they do is stare and whisper and call us freak or aliens and then I just—know the answer. To every question. And I don't think before I say it and then the whispers start again."

"You know the answer?" Shawn asked her. "You just... hear it?"

"My head hurts," Rio whimpered in pain, clutching at her temples. "It _hurts_."

"Come on, let's get you to the nurse." Shawn pulled up her slumped form and was about to walk her down to the nurse's office when Mr. Matthews came up to them with concern written all over his face. Shawn looked behind him and saw a crowd beginning to poke their heads out of classrooms all of the hallway.

"Are you alright, Rhiannon?" Mr. Matthews asked.

Rio laid her head on Shawn's shoulder and let him answer for her. "She's got a migraine. I'm just going to take her to the nurse's office."

"Go on then." Mr. Matthews waved his hand down the hall, letting Shawn escape from the stares with Rio, who cringed with every open classroom door they passed.

_What's going on?_

_Is she okay?_

_UFO girl just gets freakier and freakier._

* * *

Ben quietly cooked some lunch, keeping his ears out for any signs of waking up in his father's room. He dished out two sandwiches and cleaned up his mess before escaping back to his room. He saw his little brother Davey standing in the center of the room, staring up at the walls and ceiling as all the newspaper clippings and notes and pictures weaved with lines of red and green yarn lines criss-crossing across the walls.

"You've been busy," Davey commented. "What is all this?" But there was no inquisitive inflection in his voice as he asked.

"Well, I noticed patterns," Ben mumbled, "There have been thousands of disappearances, where there was no sign of foul play. No signs that the person ran off on their own. No packed bags. The people just were there one second—and gone the next."

"Like me," Davey frowned. "The lines."

"That's the interesting thing." Ben sat down at his desk chair. "There's a 4400 support chat room, either for the returnees or the family of the returnees. Lot's of 4400 members have come forward with stories of remembering white lights—just like the one I saw take you."

"I don't remember any white light," Davey murmured. "I just remember you telling me it was time to go home."

"Well, I saw the light take you," Ben told him, "I saw it. And that ball of light that you all came back in—it's the same light. Look around Davey, the red lines connect all the unsolved disappearances since this little girl Maia Rutledge who disappeared in 1946 without a trace. She literally just went to play in the park with her parents just ten feet away. And then she never came back. No suspicious people lurking around, no noise or anything. And the green lines are the corresponding 4400 members that I've identified so far."

"Why are you still digging into this?" Davey asked his brother, taking a bite of the sandwich Ben had set on the desk. "I'm back."

"I need to figure out why they took you—what they did to you—how-" Ben cut off. "I just need answers. I've dedicated my whole life to the truth since the day you disappeared. I can't stop now."

* * *

Shawn stepped into the nurse's office, seeing Rio reclined on the hospital style bed with her eyes clenched shut and a cold compress on her forehead. He stepped into the office and smiled at the elderly nurse. "Is it okay if I take her home?"

The nurse nodded. "Just tell her to make a doctor's appointment as soon as she can. The headache she described sounds like a chronic headache, and she may need medication to take regularly in order to avoid anything like this happening again."

"I'll make sure she sees a doctor," Shawn promised, making his way into the bedroom and putting his hand on Rio's cheek. Her eyes fluttered open at the contact as she stared groggily up at him. He helped her sit up. "Hey—time to go home. Are you feeling any better?"

"My head still hurts," Rio whispered, pulling the compress from her head. "People can be so loud."

"The nurse said you might have some chronic headache thing," Shawn told her. "You should make a doctor's appointment."

"And tell them what?" Rio asked him. "Hey, I was abducted by aliens and now I get massive headaches—oh yeah and I know every answer to every question asked in class because I hear it in my head. Somehow, I don't think that'll go over well."

"Well, on check in, talk to whoever you spoke to about your medication," Shawn suggested. "Let's go home." He cupped her face briefly, leaning down to kiss her. When he pulled away, Rio was staring at him with a dubious expression. "What is it?" he asked her.

"My headache—it's gone," she whispered to him.

Danny and Nikki were waiting outside for them. Nikki immediately hugged Rio. "Are you alright? Shawn told us what happened in math."

Rio nodded, pulling away from her so Shawn could wrap his arm around her shoulder. "I'm fine. Just a headache."

The foursome walked out of the high school campus, toward the sidewalk when they heard someone shout, "Yo, freak!" They all turned around to see Brad glaring at Shawn. "Still hiding behind your little girlfriend?"

"You know what, Brad?" Shawn shot at him, extremely irritated and impatient. "You need to shut it down."

Rio leaned out of his arm, whispering towards Nikki, "I do not get the new lingo you people use," causing Nikki to grin a little.

"You wanna shut me down?" Brad challenged. "You know, the only thing I'm shutting down, is you, bitch!"

Shawn dropped his backpack as Brad stood up from his seat on a stone bench. "You're really starting to piss me off, now."

"Come on, bring it!" Brad jerked his hands out to the ready. "Knock me down."

The boys lunged at each other, flipping over the stone railing and into the grass next to them. Shawn rolled over on top of Brad and held his face into the dirt ground. Brad started choking and gasping. Rio pushed herself to the front of the gathering crowd and her eyes widened when she saw Brad getting paler, his skin almost turning blue as bruises formed under his eyes. "Shawn! That's enough, Shawn!"

Shawn seemed to snap out of his anger-induced haze and shoved himself off of Brad. Rio saw Brad's skin returned to normal as he flipped himself onto his back. Shawn reached her side as his brother looked at him. "What did you do to him?"

Rio stared up at Shawn and noticed blood at the side of his mouth. "You're bleeding, Shawn."

Shawn wiped at the blood and stalked off, Rio walking after him. "Wait, Shawn!" She caught up with his down the sidewalk and grabbed his arm. "Whatever went on there just now—it's okay."

"How was that okay?" Shawn hissed, turning towards her.

"The same way you told me my freak out in class was okay," Rio shot at him. "It's gotta be connected to our missing time. We'll figure it out. Okay?"

Shawn sighed. "Let's just go home."

* * *

Later, Rio sat at the desk Sarah picked out for her in her room at the front of the house. She peered out the window, seeing Shawn shoot hoops with his brother in the street. She brushed her curly hair back with one hand when she felt a pang in her head. She looked down to see Shawn and Danny yelling at each other. She inwardly cursed and raced downstairs and out the front door, hearing Shawn shout at his brother. "Come on Danny, not you too. Come on!"

"The way he went down?" Rio knew he was referring to Brad from this afternoon. "That's not normal. You know it, I know it, everybody saw it!"

"What are you saying?" Shawn grunted at him.

"Hey guys," Rio broke in, "let's calm down—alright?"

"This has nothing to do with you," Danny told her. "You're one of them—just like him."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Rio glared at him. "Don't try and act like _you're_ the victim, baby brother. Okay? _We're_ the ones who were taken and dropped here all at once with no memories and years of missing time. _We're_ the ones who have to pick up the shards of our lives and you're expecting Shawn to be the same person he was three years ago? Grow up, you little twerp."

Danny jumped at her, getting in her face. "You wanna say that again?"

"Get away from her!" Shawn shouted, yanking his brother away from Rio by his shoulder.

Danny glared at the both of them and stormed off into the house.

"Are you okay?" Rio asked Shawn, her hands on her hips.

"Fine," Shawn grunted, turning to walk off into his house after Danny.

"Shawn," Rio called to him, but he ignored her.

He paused right before the driveway, tossing the basketball into a bush and turning back to her, walking to her. "I'm sorry—I didn't mean to snap at you."

"S'ok," Rio mumbled disheartened.

"No, it's not," Shawn mumbled, angry with himself. "You're the one person I shouldn't be taking this out on."

"It's not like I don't know what you're going through, Shawn," Rio told him, walking closer to him, and taking his hand. "It's understandable to be a little high strung being back."

"It's only been three years for me," Shawn whispered. "It's been sixteen years for you. It's been decades for others. Richard disappeared in '51. That girl, Maia, disappeared in _1946_. I shouldn't be the one having so many issues with being back."

"Everyone," Rio began, "And I do mean _everyone_ —is having issues with being back. Have you been on the chat sites? This whole internet thing is really rad and confusing as hell—but Nikki showed me the searching engine and I found a support site for 4400 members. Everyone goes on there to talk about their dead families and how the world has changed in the blink of an eye. Everyone's struggling."

"So, I shouldn't complain, right?" Shawn asked her.

Rio shook her head. "Complain and rant all you want. That's what the counselors are for. That's what I'm here for. I'm just telling you that you aren't alone. I'm right here, Shawn."

"I know." Shawn cupped her cheek in his hand. "I'm supposed to be the one helping you. You lost more time than I did."

Rio shrugged. "I'm good at playing catch up."

Shawn smiled at her, leaning down to press his lips to hers, still smiling into the kiss.


	4. Chapter 4

"Caro?" Dominic asked, breathing heavily as he held Alice in his arms while baby Teddy slept on his chest.

Alice looked up at him from his shoulder. "Yes?"

"I want you to—to be happy—when I'm gone," Dominic breathed. "I want you to find someone to spend your life with."

"Dominic..." Alice started, but he held up his hand to stop any protests she may give him.

"I know with—all my heart, that you are my soul mate, cara," Dominic told her. "But so was Mary. We all—have room in our hearts—for more than one love. You will find someone who makes you happy, who will fall in love with you just like I did when I was seventeen years old."

"Today, I have you," Alice told him.

The nurses had said Dominic didn't have more than a day left. So, Alice was faced with meeting his closest family as they came to say their goodbyes.

Ethan took it upon himself to handle introductions and making Alice as comfortable as possible. "Alice," Ethan called her attention as a few people entered the hospital room. "This is my dad, Vincent, and my mom, Diane, and my younger brother, Tristan."

The woman, Diane, walked right up to Alice and wrapped her arms around the younger woman. "Oh, Alice, I've heard so much about you."

Alice smiled tearfully. "It's nice to meet you."

Diane pulled her husband to her side as he reached his hand out to Alice. "It's nice to meet the woman my father loved."

"It's nice to finally meet Teddy's baby brother," Alice smiled, turning to pick up her baby from the hospital bed. "I always wanted him to have siblings."

"It's so weird to think of a two-year-old as my Uncle," Ethan's brother, Tristan commented.

"Knock, knock," another voice at the door sounded and they all turned to see a man who looked a little younger than Vincent but had a beer belly and a big grin. He walked in and smiled at Alice and Teddy, "You must be the lost love—I'm Vincent's younger and handsomer brother." Alice shook hands with him, albeit awkwardly, and smiled friendlily. "Nice to meet you."

The family gathered around Dominic's bed, sharing words and sharing stories and telling their goodbyes one by one. Vincent sat by his father's side, holding his hand when he gestured for Alice to do the same. Feeling somewhat like an intruder on this family moment, she sat by her husband's side and laid her baby in the crook of his arm. She saw a smile lift Dominic's lips as he leaned down to kiss his baby's head. His eyes closed slowly, the breath leaving him. And Alice began to sob as she heard the monotonous beeping flat line.

* * *

Shawn sat perched on a stone wall on campus when he spotted Rio and Nikki making their way toward him. He helped pull Rio up to sit next to him, kissing her cheek, making her smile. Nikki smiled up at him holding out a CD case. "For you." He stared at it for a moment causing Nikki to push it toward him with an encouraging smile. "Come on, take it."

"What is it?" Shawn asked, gingerly taking the case from her.

"A CD that I burned," Nikki said. "I made one for Rhiannon too. Think of it as a crash course in all things new and cool."

Rio snorted. "Cool? Yeah, right. Just so you know, Rolling Stones is where it's at. Depeche Mode, AC/DC, Rush. Those are real musicians."

Nikki rolled her eyes at her house guest. "There's also The Darkness, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Killing Joke, all the bands you've never heard of."

"Thank you," Shawn told her, frowning. "But Nikki, I could listen to all the music, and watch all the shows, but it wouldn't matter, 'cause they're still gonna look at us like we're different."

"At least you'll be listening to some good music," Nikki suggested.

Shawn scoffed. "I don't understand, see, because everybody has been looking at me like I'm some kind of monster since the fight—but you, aren't you afraid to be seen with us?"

"No!" Nikki protested, "What do I care what those creeps—sorry, posers—think?"

"Posers?" Shawn asked with a furrowed brow.

"I'm teaching her eighties slang," Rio said with a proud grin. "She's gonna sound totally boss when I'm done with her."

"Boss is good, right?" Nikki asked her curiously.

Rio smiled deprecatingly. "Yes, dear, boss is good."

Nikki smiled and said, "Good," before turning toward Shawn again. "If you like the CD, I'll bring you another one."

"Sounds great."

* * *

Rio was on her way to Nikki's room to ask her for some technical help. The door was wide open, and Nikki sat on her bed with a frown on her face, hugging a pillow in her lap. Rio rapped her knuckles against the door frame, causing Nikki to jump a little in her position. Rio raised her hands mock-defensively. "Didn't mean to scare you. You okay?"

"Yeah," Nikki sighed. "Fine—what's up?"

"I dunno—what's up with you?" Rio asked, walking over to sit in front of her on the bed.

The girls didn't realize that Mr. Hudson was on his way to get them for dinner when he heard Nikki asked out of the blue, "Are you a virgin, Rhiannon?"

George paused at the door, not liking where this talk was going, and stayed out of sight so he could listen.

Rio was, suffice it to say, shocked at the sudden question. "Oh, um, no, I'm not. The whole 'free love' hippie movement from the sixties kinda seeped into my genes from my parents. I didn't really value innocence, wanted to grow up as soon as I could, you know?"

"So, it's not a big deal?" Nikki asked. "Sex—I mean."

Rio paused at the weird line of questioning. "Is this about Danny? Is he pressuring you?"

Nikki averted her eyes shyly. "I mean, we've messed around plenty of times. We've been together like six months now. But he's been hinting..."

"That he wants more," Rio finished knowingly. "My boyfriend when I was sixteen dropped the same hints. Until I lost it to him in the back of his car and two weeks later, he broke up with me for this chick in an all-girl rock band."

Nikki gasped. "Oh, that's awful."

"You gotta understand I didn't have the best judgment back then," Rio explained to her. "Back then, bipolar disorder was really taboo and rare. The doctors tried everything to avoid diagnosing me with it, so I was a mess of the wrong medications and endless joints to just get myself to calm down. Not to mention being locked up in an asylum for eighteen months. And I did everything to rebel and feel a part of something other than what my parents wanted for me. So, I made some really bad choices that I regret more than anything."

"So, I should wait," Nikki guessed.

Rio stared at the insecure girl in front of her. And took her hand in one of hers. "Love is expressed in many different ways. But only when both participants are equal. Whether it's making out in the back seat of his car or making love in a bed during your honeymoon, the big acts don't prove that you love someone. The simple, small ones do. Getting you flowers just because he feels like it. Telling you that you're beautiful when you just woke up and haven't even brushed your teeth yet. Wanting to just hold your hand. Those are the most pure and unadulterated expressions of love. And you know what else? _You_ get to decide what you want to do. Not him—just _you_. And if he still wants more, that's his issue, not yours."

Nikki sniffed a little, reaching forward to hug the other girl. "Thank you, Rhiannon."

George smiled to himself, and quietly knocked on the door, pretending that he hadn't heard their conversation. "Girls? Dinner's almost ready."

Nikki and Rio pulled away from each other and smiled awkwardly. "Okay, dad, we'll be down in a second."

George made his leave and Nikki smiled at Rio. "Thanks—I needed to talk to someone."

"Well, now you have someone right down the hall." Rio grinned at her. She stood up to make her way downstairs for dinner when she heard someone speak.

_I don't need pity out of you!_

Rio jumped, turning toward Nikki who still sat on her bed. "Did you say something?"

Nikki looked at her dumbly. "Oh, um—no, I didn't say anything..."

 _Go away!_ A man's voice shouted, _I just wanna be left alone._

 _We can't do that_ , a different male voice said. It eerily sounded like Shawn's Uncle Tom.

Rio turned towards Nikki again before looking around her room, walking towards the door. "You didn't hear that?"

"Hear what?" Nikki asked her, standing up from her bed.

_I said get away from me!_

Rio felt a pounding start in her temples. She whimpered, holding her head. "Not again."

_Please stay away. Please._

"What's going on, Rio?" Nikki asked her, standing in front of her. She gasped when she saw blood coming out of her nose. "Rio—your nose is bleeding."

* * *

"Tom, your nose." Diana caught Tom's attention as they stood poised with their guns outside the cabin Orson holed himself up in.

Tom wiped at his nose before lifting his leg to kick the door in, ignoring the shaking all around them. But as soon as he got inside, the unseen force literally brought him to his knees.

Orson cowered in on himself. "I can't control it. I can't control it."

* * *

Rio whimpered. "I can't control it."

Suddenly, she let out a loud cry and fell to the ground in a limp fetal position on her knees.

 _Whatever it is you're doing, Mr. Bailey, stop it!_ She heard a female voice order.

"I can't control it," Rio whispered in tandem with Bailey.

_Stop it now!_

A loud bang went off in Rio's head as she screamed, feeling something pierce the flesh of her shoulder, the sheer force of it knocking her on her back. In the back of her mind, she could hear Nikki scream for her parents. She was only somewhat aware of George and Sarah charging into the room, hysterical at the sight of Rio collapsed on the ground with blood coming out of her ears and nose and a hole in her arm.

"Call 911!" Sarah's voice shouted.

The next moment she heard George speaking frantically into his cell phone.

Rio's vision was blurred by tears as she screamed in pain from her head and her arm. The ringing in her head got so loud—she blacked out.

* * *

Shawn paced the hospital hallway, his hands running over his mouth. Nikki sat with her hands in her lap between her parents in the waiting room chairs. Danny leaned against the wall next to her.

Shawn heard heels clicking and looked up, searching for a surgeon or a doctor, but instead saw his Aunt Linda. She looked at him confused, seeing him on her way out from visiting her son. "Shawn—what are you doing here?"

Shawn let out a shaky breath. "It's Rhiannon—something happened, and she's hurt."

"What happened?" Linda asked in concern.

Shawn shook his head worriedly. "I don't know. Nikki said that she heard voices or noises or something and then collapsed holding her head and suddenly had a bullet wound in her arm."

"She was shot?" Linda gasped.

Shawn sighed in frustration. "That's the thing! There's no bullet in sight or shooter. She just suddenly had a bullet wound."

"Are you the family of Miss Mitchell?" a woman in green scrubs walked toward them.

"Nikki!" Shawn called for her attention, causing the blonde girl to rush over with her parents. Shawn looked at the doctor. "We're all here for her. Is she okay? Where is she?"

"Miss Mitchell just got out of surgery," the doctor told them. "She's going to be just fine."

The group all let out a collective sigh of relief at the news.

"Can we see her?" Nikki asked eagerly.

"Actually," they heard a voice behind them, turning to see Diana and Tom standing there in their suits and badges out and ready. It was Diana who spoke. "We'd like to speak with Miss Mitchell as soon as she wakes up."

"Why?" Sarah asked, holding Nikki under her arm. "She hasn't done anything wrong."

"Whenever someone comes in with a bullet wound the hospital has to report it," Tom explained. "Her name popped up on our monitors since she's a... _returnee_ so we came down to talk to her. Did any of you see the shooter?"

"There was no shooter," Nikki explained exasperated. "No one was there but us when she started hearing things and then suddenly fell over clutching her head and then suddenly, she was bleeding."

"Did anything happen before?" Diana asked. "Any signs that she was unstable?"

"She's not unstable," Shawn shot at the agent. "She's been taking her meds religiously. She never skipped a pill."

"This could be completely independent from her condition," Tom explained. "Has anything like this happened before?"

Shawn clenched his jaw. "She's had headaches. She was going to talk to the doctors in quarantine about it on her next check in."

Diana walked off to flag down her doctor. "Please let us know when Miss Mitchell is awake. We need to talk to her as soon as she's able."

"I've been paged that she's waking up now," the doctor answered warily. "I'll check if she's up for receiving visitors. But no more than two."

"Thank you," Diana said politely as the doctor walked off.

"Where's her wound?" Tom asked, writing down the facts they were told.

"Her shoulder," Nikki thought on it. "Left shoulder."

"Left shoulder?" Diana asked. "Are you sure?"

"Of course, she's sure," George snarled at the agent.

"And when did this all happen?" Diana asked.

Nikki shrugged. "Right before dinner."

Diana and Tom shared a solemn look.

* * *

Rhiannon waited impatiently for the agents to come into the room. Shawn's uncle opened the door with a small smile. "Hello Rhiannon. We heard you ran into some trouble earlier. We came to check on you."

"No—you came to see if it was your fault," Rio answered intuitively.

"What do you mean?" Diana asked in a business-like tone, walking into the hospital room.

Rio rolled her eyes deeply at them. "I could hear you from the hallway when they told you I got shot in my shoulder with no bullet. It's the same wound that businessman, Bailey, got when you shot him."

"How'd you know about that?" Diana asked, gaping at the young girl.

Rio clenched her eyes shut briefly. A pressure was building in her head. "Because that's what I was hearing during my episode. I could hear you telling him to stop. And he couldn't control himself."

"Rhiannon," Tom started gently. "We were over four hours away when this happened. And Nikki said that you were with her in her room when you collapsed."

Rio gave a hollow sigh. "That's right. I don't know what's happening to me—whatever they did to me. They changed me."

"They?" Diana asked.

"Whoever took us!" Rio raised her voice. "The aliens—the scientists—whoever it was! They _changed_ me."

"Changed you how?" Tom asked her.

"I can hear people when they're not talking," Rio told him near tears. "I hear what they're hearing. And it's so painful. But I can't turn it off!"

"Shh," Tom told her comfortingly as she started to cry, bringing her head to his chest and grasping her shoulders in his hands. "It'll be okay. We'll figure this out."

"What's wrong with me?" Rio whimpered.

* * *

Rio was almost asleep when Shawn gathered the courage to see her after Nikki and her family left. He crept in and sat by her side, grasping her hand in his. "Rio—are you okay?"

She stared tiredly up at him through her eyelashes. "Hey. Yeah. I'll live, I think."

Shawn mock glared at her. "Not funny."

"I'm so sure," she murmured back tiredly. "I should be out tomorrow. Kinda like it in here though—they give me all these fun drugs."

Shawn chuckled at her. "You'll be an addict by the time they let you out. We'll have to check you into rehab."

"I'll always be an addict," Rio murmured. "You never really stop once you've started. But at least I'm reformed. I'm taking this second chance seriously, Shawn. I'm gonna be better."

Shawn frowned at the allusion to her past drug use. "I know—you're better than all that. I have complete faith in you, Rhiannon. And I'll be with you."

"Thank you, Shawn," Rio whispered. "I'm lucky to have you through all of this."

"We're lucky to have each other," Shawn told her, leaning forward to kiss her forehead. "Rest up. We'll all be here to get you in the morning."

Rio smiled at him tiredly. "Okay. G'night."


	5. Chapter 5

Shawn rubbed his eyes as he made his way upstairs, catching sight of a dull light at the end of the hall. He followed it to find Nikki and Danny sitting at the computer. "What are you guys doing?"

Danny turned towards him, startled. "Research."

Shawn peered over their shoulders. "On ?"

"It's just..." Nikki trailed off as she searched for an excuse. "You know the web. There's a site for everything."

"The 4400 menace?" Shawn read out loud, incredulously. "I know this guy. I was in quarantine with him."

"They're saying he killed someone, just by thinking about it," Danny said.

"And he was hospitalized for a bullet wound in his left shoulder," Nikki pointed out worriedly. "Just like Rio."

"So, that makes us some kind of freaks?" Shawn glared at them.

"No, we were just..." Nikki rebutted by broke off with a sigh, and said, "worried about Rhiannon. I was with her when she collapsed and got hurt. It was really scary."

"You're all linked somehow," Danny said. "Rio must've been connected to the guy—maybe she can even do what he did."

"Rhiannon's not a killer, Danny," Shawn growled at his brother. "You have no idea what you're talking about." Then he glared at Nikki. "Neither do you." He stalked off toward his room, ignoring Nikki calling out his name.

Shawn slammed his bedroom door and landed on his bed and frustrated sigh, running his hands through his hair. He clenched his jaw as he remembered what happened back at the hospital on his way out from seeing Rio.

_He walked into Kyle's room, staring at his cousin all wired up and unconscious. He couldn't believe his cousin had been this way the whole three years he'd been gone. He stood over him and carefully and tentatively laid his hands on Kyle's chest. After a moment of silence and stationary movement, Kyle's breath started to drag, a slight bump in the monotone beeping of machines. Suddenly, Kyle's body shot up into a seated position, his eyes wide open and mouth agape with strangled breathing exhaling from the source. Shawn jumped back. Kyle fell back down to his bed, eyes closed and comatose, as if nothing had happened._

* * *

"Dominic Bello was a wonderful and giving man," an older gentleman that Alice barely recognized as Dominic's High School best friend, Ralph, spoke the last speech at Dominic's memorial service. Dominic had arranged to be buried in between the headstone he paid for Alice and Teddy and the plot his second wife laid in, Mary. All sat in the plastic chairs on the dewy grass as they stared at the closed brown casket.

Diane had an old black dress she let Alice borrow for the occasion. Alice sat on the edge of the first row next to Ethan, bumping a crying Teddy on her knee, trying to get him soothed and calm. "Shhh... it's okay baby, it's okay... shh..." But her voice choked and shook with her own tears.

Ethan reached down into the diaper bag Alice kept and pulled out a pacifier. "May I?"

Alice looked at him and nodded, still half listening to Ralph's speech as Ethan gently pushed the pacifier into Teddy's mouth. The baby's cheeks were still red and blotchy and wet with tears, but his wails softened and eventually ceased. Alice gave Ethan a grateful smile and held her baby close to her chest as a jazz band began to play Dominic's favorite song while his two sons stood up to place red roses on the casket. Diane stood next, dropping the same color rose on the casket before taking her seat next to her husband and taking his hand. Ethan and his brother stood up together and dropped their own flowers. After they had, a line formed as all of Dominic's friends and family stopped to drop their roses on his tomb. Some were Alice's friends when she and Dominic were married. Those that recognized her stopped to tell her how glad they were that she'd come back, in time for Dominic to see her for the last time. They expressed their worry for her being back and how much they'd missed her. They were glad she was safe as they'd all believe she was dead.

After most had dropped their roses, Alice stood with a very different flower. It was a stem with a few baby blue flowers with brown and yellow centers. It was her favorite flower. It was the flower Dominic always got her for her birthday or their anniversary. He bought a whole bouquet of them when she gave birth to Teddy.

It was a Forget-Me-Not.

She stood over her husband's casket and let Teddy hold the flower in her hand. "Do you want to drop the flower for Daddy?"

Teddy hummed over his pacifier as his little hand released the flower from his grasp and it fell in slow motion towards the casket, landing softly among the red roses as the casket was lowered into the ground.

* * *

Ryland, Diana, and Tom huddled around Ryland's computer screen watched a tape of Maia. "The complaints started after her foster parents brought her back to quarantine last week."

"What kind of complaints?" Diana asked.

"Well, for instance," Ryland began, "yesterday, Maia spoke to an employee in the cafeteria. She told her that her daughter would be in the hospital soon but would be okay. Then the little girl was in a car accident."

"So, you're saying what, she's got some kind of second sight?" Diana theorized.

"I have five stories just like that one," Ryland answered her simply.

"Why hold a little girl for 60 years and then send her back able to predict the future?" Tom asked, "What were they thinking?"

"We don't even know if there is a they," Diana protested.

"He, she, it, take your pick," Tom shot at her. "The point is that returnees are suddenly turning up with extra abilities."

"Let's leave that for the team in the theory room," Ryland closed the conversation.

* * *

"I never meant to scare anyone." Maia frowned, coloring with a green crayon in an interview room with Tom and Diana.

"We know that sweetie," Tom told her gently. "But why did you say those things to Mrs. Krause about her daughter?"

"Because they're true," Maia answered simply.

"But how did you know?" Tom elaborated.

Maia kept coloring. "I just do."

Tom paused. "If I asked you if it was going to rain next Sunday, would you know the answer?"

Maia hesitated. "Maybe. I don't know... What's going to happen to me now?"

"The doctors here are going to take another look at you," Tom told her. "Don't worry. It won't hurt."

"I don't believe you," Maia whispered. "It's gonna hurt, isn't it?" They were surprised to see her looking at Diana.

"You might be uncomfortable some of the time," Diana admitted. "But mostly it's going to be boring."

"Will you look in on me now and then?" Maia looked up at the female agent.

Diana pointed to herself. "Me?"

Maia nodded earnestly. "To see that I'm all right."

Diana and Tom shared an awkward look. Diana fluttered her head and nodded. "Sure."

* * *

Ben walked Davey into the big Home Sec building and stopped his brother in front of his counselor's office. "Okay, I'll be right outside. You can leave any time. I'll be here."

"I'll be fine, Ben." Davey grinned up at his brother. "Stop worrying."

* * *

Shawn sat in the front of the school waiting for the bell to ring. Rio was resting at home for the day and he was anxious for school to let out so he could go see her.

He was about to walk in the building when he heard his Uncle Tom call his name. He turned to greet him. "What's up, Uncle Tom?"

"Um..." Tom started awkwardly. "Did you visit Kyle? Thursday night."

"Yeah, I went and saw Kyle on Thursday night," Shawn told his Uncle. "He's my cousin. I wanted to see him. I went after saying goodnight to Rhiannon. What about it?"

"Nothing happened there?" Tom asked for clarification.

"I was only there for a couple of minutes," Shawn played off.

"At your welcome home party," Tom started. "A bird smacked into the window, remember?"

"It was stunned, what about it?" Shawn asked impatiently.

Tom shook his head. "No, it was more than that. And then... you picked it up. Suddenly, it was alive and well. What the hell did you do to Kyle?"

Shawn let out a frustrated groan. "I didn't do anything to him! Look, I really like these little chats we have, Uncle Tom, but I gotta go to class."

"Shawn," Tom called out to him as Shawn started to walk away. "We'll talk again."

"Oh, I can't wait," Shawn shot out at him sarcastically and kept walking away.

As Shawn walked up the steps, Nikki and Danny approached him. Nikki smiled up at him, hands hanging on the straps of her backpack like the schoolgirl she was. "A bunch of us are going to see Fountains of Wayne this weekend."

"Have fun," Shawn told them.

Nikki frowned at him. "You know, this whole loner thing is so tired."

"Well, it works for me," Shawn shot at her and walked off to the right.

Danny stared at his girlfriend as she shouted after his brother. "Fountains of Wayne... Friday night!"

"What is with you?" Danny asked her. "Why do you keep pushing him?"

"Someone has to," Nikki answered. "I don't see you doing anything."

"I'm giving him his space, let him figure things out for himself," Danny excused. "You should try it sometime."

* * *

Shawn stood in front of the Hudson's, having rushed over after school let out, and nervously knocked on the door. A few moments later Mrs. Hudson opened the door with a smile. "Shawn. How are you? Are you here to see Rhiannon?"

"Yeah," Shawn said. "Is she up?"

Sarah nodded. "Yeah, she's up in her room. Go on ahead."

Shawn thanked her and walked around to the stairs in the kitchen, making a bee line for the white door toward the front of the house and knocked.

"Come in," he heard her voice call.

He pushed the door open to see Rio sitting cross-legged on her bed with Nikki's laptop laid out in front of her. She looked up and smiled when she saw it was him visiting her. "Hey, how was the hell hole they call high school?"

"Hell," Shawn quipped, sitting somewhat behind her on the bed, peering at the computer screen to see an article with a picture of a 30-something man with dark hair and a sleazy smile. "Who is that?"

"Adam Kensington, big CEO of the life insurance company Bailey was partner to before he was taken," Rio said, running her hand through her curls to pull them out of her face. "He's the son of a bitch Bailey supposedly killed."

"Is there some hostility towards the dead guy?" Shawn grinned at her, shifting behind her so that he could pull her body against his chest between his legs, wrapping his arms around her waist. Rio shifted with him, pulling the laptop onto her lap, and straightening her legs out.

"He was at the snake's head of some scheme to defraud policy holders," Rio explained. "If Bailey hadn't killed him then Washington would be out like a billion dollars."

"So..." Shawn trailed off.

"And then I found this," Rio cut him off, pulling up another article with a picture of a plane crash. "I was just looking up random events since I disappeared—to catch up, you know?"

"Yeah."

"Well," Rio continued, "about a month after I disappeared, the Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York crashed somewhere in Scotland. Everyone died."

"But you said that happened after you were taken," Shawn said. "What's so significant about it if you had nothing to do with it? You weren't even in London."

"Because I was leaving for London the next day," Rio revealed to him. "I had a few friends from a band over there about to hit it big and they invited me on tour. My parents weren't going to let me go so I spent the previous few months working my butt off to make the money to book a flight myself. I pulled it off and booked a round trip. Departing on November 26 and coming back December 21. I was supposed to be on that flight. I would have died if I hadn't been taken when I was."

"It's a very fortunate coincidence," Shawn admitted.

Rio closed the laptop and pushed it off to the side, twisting in Shawn's arms to face him. "Coincidence? No, they knew exactly what they were doing. I mean – they took me just in time to keep me from being on that flight and dying with the rest of the passengers."

"What's your point?" Shawn asked her.

"What if they knew?" Rio posed for him. "What if they knew about that the plane was gonna crash and kept me from boarding it? What if they knew about Kensington's scheme and plucked Bailey out of 1979 and brought him back so he would take out Kensington before he could cost the state a billion dollars?"

"So, you're saying these people know the future?" Shawn tried to follow.

"Or they're from it," Rio nodded. "And they're trying to change it."

Shawn thought on it for a moment. "Well—whatever the big plan is—I'm glad it put you and me together."

Rio smiled at him, "Aww—you're sweet," and leaned down to kiss him.

He didn't let her stop kissing him for a while.

* * *

Alice gasped with tears in her eyes when she surveyed one of the things she so cherished that Dominic had kept safe all these years—her wedding dress. The tea length skirt full of tule and lace that traveled up to her collar that would button at her neck and encase her arms warmly. It was a little off color now but she could still see what she had looked like in it.

She pulled it out of the plastic bag it was kept in, ignoring the urge to try it on again. Teddy was running around the room until he ran into the side table and bonked his head, immediately bursting into tears. Startled by the noise, Alice let go of her dress and rushed over to Teddy's side, picking him up and shushing him, feeling for a bump on his head. She felt none and just kissed his hair until he calmed down.

When she looked over to where she dropped her dress, she discovered it never fell onto the ground. It was floating there as if something invisible were holding it up. Alice stood in front of it, reaching her hands to pick it up again, and before she could extend her hands, the dress flew into them as if by some magnetic pull.

Alice stared at the dress wide eyed, looking over at her son who was grinning. "Mums the word, okay, darling?"

Teddy nodded. "Kay mommy."

* * *

Diana stalked through the medical halls of towards Maia's examination room to find her curled up on the table in a gown, alone. Diana let herself into the room. "Hey, Maia. How long have they left you like this?"

"A while," Maia murmured into her knees. "I think they all went on their coffee break."

Diana tried to hide her anger at the doctors' mistreatment of this sweet little girl. "Oh! Well, you know, that's pretty dumb of them, isn't it?"

Maia looked up at the woman. "Will you stay until they come back?"

"Of course," Diana answered. "When they show up, your doctors and I are going to have a little talk."

"And then can I go home?" Maia asked hopefully.

"Home?" Diana asked the girl curiously.

"With you," Maia explained innocently. "I don't like being here alone."

Diana was shocked to saw the least. "You want to stay with me?"

Maia nodded. "You don't like being alone either. I can always come back for my checkups. Please."

Diana sighed, conflicted. "Look, Maia, I'm not even sure _I'm_ the kind of person I want to live with. No, I... eat cold pizza for breakfast and..."

"That sounds all right to me," Maia told her.

"Yeah," Diana laughed. "You know, Maia, just let me think about it, okay?"

* * *

Teddy ran around the hotel room the Bellos had set them up with. Alice emptied the little clothes she had from the dresser and packed a duffel bag with all her old and new belongings, including the albums and scrapbooks Dominic gave her. He had also asked his son to allot her some money so that she could start a new life and to return all of her old possessions that he had kept all these years. Diane had brought them over an hour ago.

"You're leaving," a voice at the door suddenly announced itself. Alice looked up to see Ethan in the doorway.

"Yes," Alice sighed, carefully packing all the clothes and jewelry Dominic had kept safe.

"Why?" Ethan asked, stepping into the room. Teddy squealed when he noticed him and ran for him, hugging his legs. Ethan bent down and picked the toddler up, holding him on his hip.

"Because there's no place for us here," Alice answered, ignoring how her son fawned over his nephew. "Just a whole lot of memories that I don't need to be faced with every day of my life. Teddy won't even remember his father."

"It wouldn't be so bad if you stayed," Ethan hedged as Teddy giggled in his arms because of the faces Ethan was making at him. "Where will you go?"

"Seattle," Alice answered as she situated Teddy's diaper bag. "That's where most of us stayed anyway. That's where I can find a new start."

"Alone?" Ethan asked. "It'll be just be the two of you."

"We'll have friends there," Alice commented. "Many other returnees are in Seattle just looking for a fresh start like me. We'll be fine, Ethan."

"What if...?" Ethan started, stopping and placing Teddy on the floor. The toddler ran off again to snatch a toy he dropped on the floor. "What if I came with you guys?"

Alice whipped her head up from her bag and halted in her packing. "What?"

"Well, you can't carry all this stuff onto a bus with you." Ethan gestured at the many things still left to be packed and the nearly full duffel bag. "There's more room in my car. And someone has to take care of you."

Alice swallowed slowly. "I can take care of myself. The government is helping returnees get their life back on track."

"But I have a job," Ethan pointed out. "And I can move anywhere I want. I work in my Uncles' restaurant business. There's a lot of stores all around America. There's one in Seattle."

"You'd be leaving your family," Alice pointed out.

Ethan rolled his eyes. "My Uncle lives in Miami—he just came in town for Grandad. And my brother lives in San Diego. My family is already spread out. We just go to Eureka for family reunions with Grandad and my parents."

"Where do you really live?" Alice asked, picking up a framed photo from her wedding day and placing it carefully on the bed.

"I lived in Los Angeles," Ethan answered. "My brother, Tristan, already agreed to pack up my place and send it all anywhere I want."

"So, this is something you've thought about," Alice realized aloud. "Not just something you thought up here."

Ethan nodded, admitting. "Yeah. When my mom came back from dropping off your stuff, she told us you were leaving. My dad tried to leave to convince you to stay."

"Why?" Alice asked. "Why did your dad want me to stay?"

Ethan shrugged. "We just lost Grandad. I don't think he wanted to lose anyone else. After all of this I think he just wanted to keep close what family he had."

"Theodore," Alice nodded.

"And you," Ethan told her. "But mom said that staying here would probably be too painful for you. But we were all still worried about you being out there on your own."

"So, you decided to come along," Alice summed up. "For how long?"

"For as long as I'm welcome," Ethan answered her.


	6. Chapter 6

Rio and Shawn sat in the Farrell's living room watching the news.

"The wife of slain Bradley Park vigilante, Carl Morrissey, revealed that her husband was one of the controversial 4400," the anchor reported. "Mrs. Morrissey stated that her husband was a true neighborhood hero, a sentiment echoed by many area residents. Law enforcement officials and a spokesperson for the National Threat Assessment Command refused to confirm or deny Mrs. Morrissey's statement."

"Why would they do this?" Rio asked quietly. "Why take this man, and put him back just so he can get himself killed trying to save a park? It's so pointless."

"Well, if you're theory from earlier is right," Shawn said, throwing his arm behind her shoulder on the couch, "then maybe there will be some positive outcome. Maybe he did what he was meant to do."

"It still seems pointless. He deserved better, he was a good guy," Rio said.

"We don't know how this is supposed to play out, if it is what you think it is," Shawn said. "Even scientists from the future can't predict everything. You're giving them a lot of credit. We still know pretty much nothing about what happened to us when we disappeared."

"I just feel pretty certain about this," Rio said helplessly, with a shrug. "I don't know why."

Shawn brushed her hair behind her ear. "Well, I know better than to bet against you." And she smiled as he cupped her cheek and gave her a sweet kiss.

* * *

Diana entered Maia's room finding her pretending to be asleep. Maia peeked her eyes open enough to see that it was the agent and sat up. "I thought you were one of the doctors."

"Yeah. I thought you were asleep," Diana told the girl. "So, you sure fooled me. How would you like to get out of here?"

Maia smiled. "Now?"

Diana nodded. "Right now."

Maia threw her blanket off of her to reveal that she was already dressed. Diana reached down to pick up her suitcase, finding it heavy in her hands, fully packed.

* * *

Tom rushed into the hospital, frantically yelling at the people crowding the hallway, "Look out, look out, look out!" He arrived at his son's room, seeing his bed empty and his soon-to-be-ex-wife sitting on a chair in tears. "Where's Kyle?"

Linda sniffed. "Surgery. Dr. Mayhew said he's got some kind of fluid building up in his skull. They're trying to relieve the pressure."

"What do you mean 'trying'?" Tom asked her.

Linda whimpered. "They said that draining the fluid might not be enough. That more might build up and if it does, then Kyle could suffer permanent brain damage within a week."

Tom cradled Linda in his arms, looking out the window to see Danny, Shawn and Rio arriving to the hospital. Rio stared on in worry, clutching Shawn's hand as he shared a look with his Uncle.

* * *

Nikki and Rhiannon sat in the kitchen chewing on fruit loops as the Barbara Yates show showed the obnoxious blonde 'journalist' yap on the television. "Despite protests, Homeland Security refuses to divulge the names or whereabouts of the 4400 living here in the US. Confirmed reports of unusual abilities have the public panicked. And yet this man sitting beside me says we have nothing to worry about."

Rio looked up, seeing a young man with dark hair and trimmed facial scruff sitting on the stool next to the blonde human chihuahua.

"I'm sure most of you recognize him even though he's been away for the past 28 months," Yates fussed. "I'm talking about Mr. Jordan Collier, who recently breached the government's wall of silence and chose to out himself as one of the notorious 4400." Yates turned to her guest. "Jordan... Why? Why now? Why here? What's your agenda?"

"I have no agenda," Collier answered innocently. "But someone had to put a human face on the 4400. We've been demonized enough by people like you."

Yates frowned at his obvious nail on the head accusation of her, trying to play it off. "Well, if you're implying this is a witch-hunt, I disagree."

Collier wasn't fazed. "You're not the one burnt at the stake."

"Damn straight," Rio murmured in agreement into her cereal. She pulled the newspaper back from where George had left it out, looking for job listings when she saw the big headline that read; FRIDAY HARBOR KILLER BACK AFTER 21 YEARS. LATEST MURDER FITS PATTERN OF UNSOLVED CRIMES.

"Shit," Rio cursed.

"What?" Nikki asked her friend. Rio pushed the paper towards her. Nikki frowned when she read the headline. "That's awful."

Rio gave her an incredulous look. "21 years, Nikki? Either the killer decided that retirement just wasn't for him—or it's one of us. And that's just gonna spark a fire in this witch hunt."

* * *

Shawn leaned up against a wall in the hospital, waiting for any word on his cousin. He heard footsteps but didn't look over until he felt an arm wrap itself around his waist. He looked down and saw Rio looking up at him. "How is he?"

"We don't know yet," Shawn said.

"Here." Rio held up a plastic wrapped sandwich. "The food here sucks. But there's a pretty good cafe next door. I figured you wouldn't want to leave so I just went over myself and got you something."

Shawn gingerly took the sandwich from her. "Thank you, Rhiannon."

"Don't mention it," Rio murmured.

"How's your arm?" Shawn asked quietly as he unwrapped the sandwich.

"Completely healed," Rio smirked.

"What?" Shawn gaped at her in shock.

Rio stretched out her left arm and wiggled it. "No scar or anything. Like it never even happened."

"How is that possible?" Shawn pulled back her hoodie jacket, her black tank top allowing him to see the lack of a bullet wound.

"The doctors have no idea," Rio said with a careless shrug. "But I might."

Shawn looked at her, waiting for her to go on. "Well?"

"You did it," Rio answered him simply. Shawn stared at her dumbly, not understanding. "That night at the hospital when you came in to see me. You touched my hand, and then suddenly all the pain was gone, even my headache. And then the next morning the doctor came in to change my bandage and there was no wound." Rio stepped closer into his side leaning up to kiss his lips. "You healed me, Shawn... you have a gift."

Before he could answer her, they noticed Nikki and Danny walked towards them from the other side of the hallway. Shawn straightened. "How's Kyle?"

Danny strung his arm across Nikki's shoulder almost protectively. "Still in intensive care but Uncle Tommy says he's stable. Guess whatever they've been doing to him worked. For now, anyway." He paused. "Listen, I'm starving. You wanna come with us to the cafeteria?"

Shawn shook his head, holding up the sandwich Rio brought him. "I'm good."

* * *

Shawn sat outside, slumped in a leather chair when a young boy walked up to him. "Are you here to talk to the counselor too?"

Shawn looked at the boy, startled at the sudden company. "Um, yeah. You?"

The boy shrugged. "I'm one of them too. My big brother says I need someone to talk to about being back. Are you waiting for your appointment?"

Shawn cleared his throat awkwardly. "No, actually, I already went in. I'm just waiting for my girlfriend."

"This doctor is supposed to help," Davey sat next to him. "My brother says that his doctor helped him after I disappeared. He was really obsessed."

"Obsessed?" Shawn asked. "About finding you?"

Davey nodded. "He said he was depressed. And his best friend made him go to a doctor and he got better. He says the counselor here could help me. Maybe he'll help you and your girlfriend too."

"Maybe," Shawn humored him. "Where is your brother?"

"Davey!" A voice shouted down the hallway just as Shawn had asked the question. A taller boy, a little older than Shawn himself, with floppy light hair and worried eyes came jogging towards them, looking at Davey. "You can't walk off like that, dude!"

"Sorry—he looked bored," Davey said with a nod towards Shawn.

Shawn awkwardly looked between the brothers. "I'll be fine."

"Sorry, man," Ben apologized. "Davey, it's time to go home."

"I'll see you again, Shawn," Davey bid farewell to Shawn and walked off with his brother, leaving Shawn behind with a burning question in his head.

How did the boy know his name?

Just then the door in front of him opened up and he saw a irritated looking Rio walking out. She smiled weakly at him. "Hey."

"Hey." Shawn stood up and grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers. "Did he ask about your relationship with your parents?"

Rio snorted. "Yeah—does he have any idea what he's doing? I need him to tell me how to adjust to 2004—not talk about my parents."

Shawn led her out to the parking lot, holding the passenger's side door open for her. "I don't know—you should talk to someone about your family. It's not completely unwarranted."

"I have you and Nikki," Rio said simply.

"Yeah," Shawn agreed, getting behind the wheel, "but you don't talk about your parents. You'll talk about Jacob, but not them."

"Yeah, well, you don't talk about anything," Rio shot at him. "I'm sure it was like pulling teeth for the shrink to get anything out of you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shawn asked as he carefully pulled out of the parking space and started driving for his house.

"It's means I can hear you sometimes," Rio admitted. "You know I can't control it—but I can hear what you're feeling sometimes, and I try to be here for you, but you never act like you need it. And I know you do."

"Fine, you want to hear about my shitty life?" Shawn asked her, growing angry. "My dad's never around, all my mom does is stare at me, my Uncle thinks I did something to Kyle to make him this way and my brother hates that I'm back. You are the one and only good thing in my life. Everything else is a shitty world filled with three years' worth of gaps I can't catch up to and I feel like such a pussy because people like you and others have a decade or more to catch up to and you're fine."

Rio stared at him, slightly shocked that she actually got him to speak about things like this. Sure, he was being angry, but it was better he expresses that emotion than no emotion at all.

"Shawn..." Rio started, "we've all been thrown for a loop. But we're gonna be okay. You've told me that. You don't have to rush to catch up with the times. You just have to become part of the world again. We all do. And we're going to. But first... we have to come to terms with everything that happened."

"How?" Shawn asked her, making a turn.

"We go back," Rio told him.

* * *

"Danny, you wanted to see me?" Tom walked out into the Homeland Security hallway down from his office, dismissing the guard with his nephew. "Thanks, Peter."

"So, this is where you work?" Danny stalled, his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah," Tom breathed, still reeling at being back. "What's up?"

Danny licked his lips, almost hesitant. "I want to talk to you about something, Uncle Tommy."

Tom sensed something about his shifting. "Is it about Shawn?"

Danny seemed surprised he guessed it so quickly. "How did you know?"

Tom put a hand on his nephew's back and led him a little further down the hall, "I'm listening."

"He had a fight at school a few weeks ago," Danny explained. "He might've killed the guy if Rhiannon hadn't gotten him to snap out of it."

"What did he do to him?" Tom asked suspiciously.

"It sounds crazy but..." Danny said a sigh, "it was like Shawn was draining the life out of him, somehow. I'm not the only one who saw it. But that girl is protecting him. Something's off with her too."

"What do you mean?" Tom asked.

Danny grinned, almost maliciously, but tried to suppress it. "Shawn lied when you asked if anything like the arm wound incident happened before. About a week before she had an episode in their math class. Went to the nurse with a chronic headache and then her classmates are gossiping about how she says the answers before the teachers even get the questions out."

"What made you decide to tell me now?" Tom asked him slowly.

"Just thought you should know," Danny shrugged.

* * *

Rio hummed to herself – that same tune that had been stuck in her head most days since the mountain – with her arms wrapped around one of Shawn's arm as they stalked down the stones and woodland floor from Shawn's car to find they weren't the only ones who decided to come back to the mountain they appeared in that day. Little clusters of returnees gathered on the beach side across from the mouth of the mountain, just staring out like all the answers were in the crevices of the structure.

They stood in the crunchy sand and twigs for a few moments. An older woman stood on Shawn's other side, a serene smile on her face. "Beautiful, aren't they? I wonder if that's where we were." She was staring up at the darkening sky, at the stars beginning to peak out at them.

Shawn and Rio followed her eye line. Shawn looked back down at her. "What's everybody doing here?"

The woman smiled knowingly at him. "What are you doing here?"

"We came to move on," Rio answered for them, leaning her head on Shawn's arm, being a bit shorter than him.

"Most people come for the conversation," the woman suggested.

Shawn looked around at the silent groups of returnees. "There's not a lot of that going on."

The woman smiled patiently. "Give it time. Around 11 o' clock, this place becomes one big group therapy session."

To interrupt their conversation, a sleek black car pulled up, parking haphazardly on the grass. A man that looked like some sort of guard stepped out of the driver's seat as another man stepped out of the back seat – Jordan Collier.

He was dressed to impress in a gray suit and nice shoes as he walked to the center of the beach, letting all the other people surround him as he smiled friendlily at all the faces. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I just had to see this myself." He stared at the water and sky for a moment before turning to face everyone else. "My name's Jordan Collier. Some of you may recognize me. If you do, you know I'm one of the 4400, just like you."

Rio stood a little straighter to attention, eyeing the new patron a little suspiciously.

"I'm impressed that you've found each other. And I'm glad that you've come in support of each other. And..." He pulled his arms around himself like he was shivering. "I'm cold!" He grinned at the wittiness of his speech so far, slowly rotating so as to face all of the people giving him their attention. "And I have to guess that you guys are cold too. I suggest that we continue these get-togethers indoors. I have a place nearby. It's warm, spacious. I want to invite all of you to meet me there next Thursday afternoon." He paused, his front coming to face Shawn and Rhiannon. "You listen to the news, you read the paper, you hear the talk. It seems like the entire world is turning against us."

Returnees around started to whisper in agreement. But Rio kept her eyes narrow and trained on Collier.

"Well, what are we going to do about it? Are we gonna give up? Run and hide? Maybe. Or maybe, just maybe, we build a world of our own."

* * *

Rio ranted while they were in the car. Shawn had gotten a call from his mom about Kyle and they were heading to the hospital.

"This isn't a war," Rio growled. "Us vs. the world. There's nothing to fight, or give up, or run from. Just some ditsy blonde yapping her fat mouth in front of a camera."

Shawn clenched his jaw, having liked what Collier was suggesting, but kept his mouth shut.

Rio sensed his silence and sighed. "Sorry—I got carried away. We're focusing on Kyle right now."

Shawn let out a breath, un-clenching his jaw, and taking a hand of the wheel to reach and take one of Rio's hands in his own. "It's okay."

Rio side smiled at him and held his hand, looking out the window as the scenery passed her by.

_Need a refill, friend?_ A male voice suddenly broke in through her thoughts.

"What?" she instinctively asked Shawn, turning her head towards him.

"What?" Shawn asked her. "I didn't say anything."

_Thanks_ , a different male voice tiredly answered the first. And she heard the sounds of something sliding against wood. Glass clinked together.

"You didn't hear that either?" Rio asked, feeling a sense dread overcome her.

_Listen I... I know we don't know each other but I have something to show you._

Rio closed her eyes at the pressure building in her head. "Not again."

"Rio?" Shawn asked her concernedly, looking between her and the road. "Is it happening again?"

Behind her eyelids, she saw a hazy image of man in a mussed-up suit, tan and shaven, almost bald, almost drunk, looking at a piece of paper. It looked like a photograph.

_So, what's her name?_

Rio whimpered, holding her head in her hands. "It hurts."

_I don't know,_ the man answered the question, _but... I can tell you something about her._

A dull ringing filled her ears, as she clenched her eyes shut tighter and tighter. "Shawn!"

Shawn immediately pulled the car over, shutting off the engine and jumping out of his car, running over to her side.

Rio groaned as her vision of the suit man shifted until another blurry image of a paler man with a sinister smile on his face appeared in her vision.

Shawn pulled her door open and unbuckled her seat belt, turning her to face him. He cradled her face in his hands. "Breath, Rio. Just breathe and it—it'll pass."

"Hold me," Rio whimpered, pressing her face in the crook of his neck. He obliged without hesitation and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and back, rubbing up and down and kissing her temple. Rio slumped in his arms with a heaved sigh of relief when she felt the pain pass.

"We really need to figure this out," Shawn commented. "For your sanity."

* * *

Linda walked through the halls towards her son's hospital room, walking in to see Shawn sitting by Kyle's bedside, looking tired. She looked around and noticed Rio sleeping on one of the other chairs, wearing Shawn's jacket.

"What are you doing here so late?" Linda asked Shawn.

"My mom said he was getting worse," Shawn muttered back at her.

"The fluid's building inside his skull again," Linda sighed, forlorn.

Shawn stared at his cousin's comatose body. "Why did they take me and leave him like this? We were both on the beach that night, I don't understand. I wish I could remember something 'cause I keep thinking, I think it would help."

Linda hesitated, wanting to speak. "Has she been here with you all night?"

Shawn looked back at Rio, smiling fondly at his girlfriend. "Yeah... she... um... she was pretty wiped out by a headache she got earlier so I tried to take her home first before coming. But she insisted on being here for me. She must have fallen asleep about a half hour ago."

"Another migraine?" Linda asked.

Shawn frowned and nodded.

"Tom said you were here the night Kyle had that... jump in his brain activity," Linda started reluctantly. "He was getting better. And now he's dying. Shawn, did you do something to him?"

Shawn sighed and started to stand up, heading towards Rio to wake her up. Linda stood in front of him, tears building in her eyes.

"Shawn, tell me. Just talk to me. Please!"

"You know I didn't do anything," Shawn looked down at her, his jaw clenching. "I told Uncle Tommy. I told you, okay? We should go." He bent in front of Rio and lightly shook her shoulder. "It's time to get you home."

Rio shifted in her position, sleepily peering up at her boyfriend. "Are you going home too?"

Shawn nodded. "Me too. Let's go."

Rio nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck so he could help her stand. She retracted her hands, wrapping Shawn's jacket tighter around her as he led her out of the hospital room passed his Aunt who stared after them.

* * *

Rio shifted in bed waking up in the morning before she let herself up. Nikki was at school and George was at work, so the house was quiet. Rio had announced after her episode in Nikki's room that she wasn't fit to go to school and that she was dropping out. She'd take the government up on vocational training once she figured out what she wanted to do.

_Let me tell you something about her..._

Rio looked up as she poked her head through a John Lennon T-shirt, looking around the room. "Hello?"

No answer.

She opened her bedroom door and looked down the stairs. "Sarah?"

"Yes, sweetie?" Sarah called back up to her.

"Did you call me?" Rio asked hopefully.

"No, I didn't," Sarah answered. "But there's food down here if you get hungry. We should take you for a check in soon too—don't let me forget."

"Okay!" Rio shakily answered her, walking back into her room.

Her vision swam with the sight of a sidewalk and street, as if she were walking down it, tripping over her feet.

_Let me tell you somethin'... I can tell you somethin'..._

In the trance, Rio didn't see her dresser in front of her and jammed her toe on it, cursing. She saw people on the sidewalk staring at her—at whoever she was in this moment.

_Let me tell you somethin'... Let me tell you somethin'..._

Her vision faced the street, staggering into the asphalt and facing an oncoming truck, the horn blaring, breaks squealing. Rio let out a scream and flinch as her body fell to the ground from the fright.

"Rhiannon!"

_Are you crazy? Get outta the road!_

"Rhiannon, are you okay?" Sarah asked worriedly as she crouched next to Rio and helped her up. "What happened?"

_I killed them. I killed them all. I killed them all._

"I killed them all," Rio muttered quietly, blinking her eyes as her vision began to return to her room.

_Hands up! Keep your hands up!_


	7. Chapter 7

"Do you like this place?" Ethan asked, looking around the three-bedroom apartment. "It's a bit steep."

"Rent vouchers will cover it," Alice said, smiling around the place, walking down a hallway and opening a door. She walked into the empty space and opened the blinds on the windows, looking out onto the city. "This could be Teddy's room. Then there's a room for you and a room for me, all with this same view. There's two bathrooms and a kitchen and a living room we could put the radio in."

"Radio?" Ethan laughed. "It's all about television now."

Alice rolled her eyes. "I don't like those picture boxes. They're so creepy. Besides, I heard it's bad for your health."

"Only if you watch too much," Ethan pointed out. "Besides, Tristan's sending up my flat screen with my stuff so we can put it in the living room."

"And I saw a walk-in closet," Alice grinned. "I call that bedroom."

Ethan smiled. "You can have it."

"So...?" Alice trailed off, holding Teddy's hand in hers as he smiled around his maybe-future-bedroom, "do you like it?"

Ethan looked back at her, enjoying her enthusiasm for this place that she lacked in the last three apartments they looked at today. "I like it."

* * *

"I heard about that Collier 4400 meeting," Ben said with his mouth full. "Do you wanna go?"

Davey shook his head. "No."

"Why not?" Ben asked. "Don't you wanna meet some of the others?"

Davey shook his head again. "No."

"Is something wrong, Davey?" Ben asked his brother.

Davey shifted in his seat across the room. "I'm... different."

"Different?" Ben repeated. "Different how?"

"I know things," Davey answered. "When I touch people—I know everything about them. I know everything about your life while I was gone. I knew when you hugged me. It just... happens."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Ben commented. "We could get you a meet and greet with Stephen Hawking or something."

Davey smiled feebly.

* * *

"There's this guy I was just talking to," Shawn explained to Collier at his big ass house. Shawn needed to get out and be with the other returnees. He dressed in a nice button up green shirt. Rio rebelled a little by dressing in the clothes she came back in, a brand-new coat of black nail polish on her fingers as she gripped a glass of apple cider. "He was gone for 40 years. He picked everything up without missing a beat. Then there's me." Shawn looked frustrated. "I'm gone for three years. And it's like my life's fallen apart... everything's different."

Collier looked sympathetic. "I know, Shawn. Remember that most of us feel the same way you do."

Shawn sighed, his arm around Rio's shoulders. "Some of us are more different than others... if you know what I mean."

"I'm not sure I do," Collier smiled gently and with confusion.

Shawn shared a look with Rio. She wanted to support him. But she didn't feel comfortable telling everyone about her headaches and episodes and his weird confrontations with birds and bullies. She didn't want to go back to quarantine

"Okay," Shawn decided. "I had this fight with a guy at school, I know it's gonna sound crazy..."

Collier held his hand up to stop him. "I really can't hear the specifics right now." He looked apologetic. "Not yet, anyway. I've got a lot of interviews over the next few weeks, and I need to be able to deny what I have to."

Shawn nodded in understanding.

"I know you're feeling confused, and I can't blame you. But it sounds to me like you've been given a gift."

Shawn glanced down at Rio with a small smile. "That's what she calls it."

Collier smiled at the young girl. "Well, she's smart. And this gift, don't let it scare you. You will find the right way to use it."

Shawn retreated into thought. "Okay."

* * *

Rio leaned against a wall in one of the many rooms being crowded by other returnees. She couldn't shake this feeling she was getting from Jordan Collier. His motives weren't as pure as he set out for others to believe. And she didn't like the way he was looking at Shawn.

"Everything okay?"

Rio looked up to see her boyfriend walking toward her with another drink in hand for her. She nodded weakly. "Yeah—fine."

_$27.75, your change_ , a voice suddenly broke through her head.

_Thank you_ , another voice answered politely.

"Shit," Rio cursed as a vision of a young man leaning down towards her – towards whoever – entered her vision. He took another picture into his hand, _What's this?_

"Rio?" Shawn asked, coming to stand in front of her. He noticed her eyes were unfocused as if she wasn't looking at anything.

_Let me tell you something about her. Her name's Felicia. She works over at the bar..._

Shawn cupped her face in his hands to try and make her look at him, snapping her out of her vision and letting her eyes focus on her boyfriend's features. "Shawn?"

"Yeah, I'm here," Shawn told her. "What happened?"

"Where's Friday Harbor?" Rio asked him urgently. "How far away is it?"

"Um, I'm not sure..." Shawn started.

"What's your Uncle Tom's number?" Rio asked. "I need to talk to him—it's urgent. That serial killer is one of us—and he's about to kill again."

"How do you know?" Shawn gaped at her.

"How do I know anything? I just do!"

Shawn immediately handed her his cell phone that she snapped open and stared at confusedly. "How do you—I don't know—ugh—how does this thing work?" Shawn chuckled at her confusion, but she insisted it wasn't her fault. She never had a cell phone or used one before. But Shawn helped her out and started a call with his Uncle for her.

* * *

"Wait, what?" Tom asked into his cell phone.

Rio's voice answered him on the phone. "I can't explain it—it's been like Bailey all over again and again and again. I hear the talking, the conversations as the person I'm linked to hears it. And I can feel them. All I know is that the same person who killed that first girl, is not the same guy who killed the second or the guy who's going to kill Felicia. He's making them do it. By making them think that they're him."

"Who is Felicia?" Tom asked as he rushed down a hallway to Diana's office.

"She's works in a bar in Friday Harbor," Rio explained. "She's the next victim and it's not gonna be the same guy who confessed to killing the other girls. But he's gonna think that he killed all of them too because it's all or nothing with this guy."

"Have you seen this man, Rhiannon?" Tom asked urgently, barging into Diana's office and startling her, "Tom—what-"

He interrupted her by putting his phone on speaker. "Have you seen the real Friday Harbor killer?"

"Yes," Rhiannon answered dutifully. "But I don't know his real name. All I know is that he must be one of the 4400. I think I can link to them when they use their powers. The stronger the powers, the more powerful the link."

"Hence how you got hurt when I shot Bailey," Diana spoke up.

"Exactly," Rio said excitedly. "I heard him talking to some businessman about a girl in a bar, and then suddenly the vision shifts from the businessman to the killer—the real killer. Because he brainwashes them, and they become him. I saw the businessman almost get hit by a truck and heard him confessing. It was a massive headache. And just now, he was talking to someone else about Felicia."

"When is he going to do this?" Diana asked her. "Did he tell him when to do it?"

"No, he doesn't actually tell them to do anything," Rio explained. "He just starts up a conversation about these girls and then tricks these guys into thinking like him. They become him and then make the decisions afterward themselves."

"So, he didn't actually tell them when, where, or how to kill these girls?" Tom groaned.

"But he's a serial killer right? A creature of habit and planning," Rio thought out loud. "So, he must stalk these girls, figure out their schedules, routines, when they're alone. So, just find Felicia."

"Do you think you could recognize this man if you saw him?" Tom asked.

"Yes, definitely," Rio answered readily. "And I could stop him."

* * *

Shawn walked along the beach where he disappeared. He stared at the log where he and Kyle had been smiling and drinking and talking—just fine one second.

_Kyle chortled at him. "You're just afraid my Dad will kick your ass if I come home smelling like beer."_

_Shawn laughed. "Evil cousin Shawn, that's me. Corrupter of the innocent."_

_They clinked their beers together as his cousin grinned mischievously. "The next-door neighbor of yours, what's her name? She seems ready for some corruption."_

_Shawn gave him an incredulous look. "You mean Nikki? She's 14, Kyle."_

_Kyle drunkenly gawked at him. "14?"_

_"Yeah," Shawn confirmed._

_The next second as they sipped their drinks, a bright light from the sky appeared above them. The boys stood under the light, bright glowing tendrils reaching out and wrapping themselves around Kyle as he shook and shouted. "Help! Help me, Shawn!"_

_Shawn stared between his cousin and the bright light with wide eyes before rushing toward Kyle and knocking him out of the way. The bright tentacles ensnared Shawn instead, grabbing him as he screamed and ripping him from the ground._

Shawn fell to the ground from the force of his real memories. "Oh my god!"

* * *

Alice finally succumbed to the changing fashions and let Ethan take her shopping for jeans and blouses. But she insisted that they get some dresses that were more from her time as well as things for Teddy. She told Ethan she'd pay him back for everything he spent on her when she got her own job and money, but Ethan said that this was family money and being married to his grandfather meant that she was part of the family.

Alice wore comfortable jeans and a lilac blouse as she and Ethan unpacked their joint belongings. She was working in the kitchen, picking up pots and pans out of boxes and finding new homes for them in the apartment.

"I'm about to unpack my stuff in my bedroom," she heard Ethan say from behind her. She turned around and smiled at him. "And my little stalker of the day is coming with me, I think." Alice laughed as she looked down and saw Teddy standing at Ethan's side, a hand latched onto his pant leg as he tugged at it to make Ethan look at him and make a funny face.

"Okay, boys, have fun," Alice dismissed them, turning back to her unpacking. She paused when she heard Ethan and Teddy walk off, peering into the box she had on the counter that was still filled with Ethan's silverware.

She took a step back and stared at it, concentrating as hard as she could, smoothly raising her hand and watching in awe as the silverware floated out of the box, stagnant in the air. Alice lifted her other hand in a pulling motion and one of the drawers opened up for her. Alice swept her other hand controlling the silverware toward the drawer and the cutlery followed her motions, gently placing itself into the drawer.

"It's getting better," Alice mused, still shocked at herself when things like this happened.

* * *

First thing in the morning, Rio took Nikki's car and drove to Friday Harbor, racing into the Sheriff's station, seeing Diana and Tom about to walk to the interview room. "Did you get him? Is Felicia okay?"

Tom raised his hands to stop her. "We got Mr. Mitchell before he could hurt Felicia. But we know he's not the Friday Harbor killer."

Diana held up a photograph of two men conversing through a car window. The man leaning down was Mitchell. "Do you recognize anyone in this picture, Rhiannon?"

Rhiannon stared at the man in the car. His smile malicious and friendly and calculating. "Yes, he's the guy," Rio pointed at his face. "He's the real Friday Harbor killer."

"Oliver Knox," Diana and Tom shared a look. "Disappeared in '83 when the killings stopped."

"And they picked up right after we all returned," Rio said catching on. "You need to go to his house, now."

Tom and Diana nod, about to exit the sheriff's station with Rio right behind them. She nearly tripped down the stairs, her head fuzzy with red visions of a man watching a blonde girl walk up the stairs of an apartment building. Tom caught her as she tripped in front of the building. "What is it, Rio?"

"Wait, wait, wait," she called out to Diana who was still heading towards the car. "He's not home. He's going after her himself—the girl, Felicia."

"Are the police at her house?" Tom asked his partner.

"She refused an escort," Diana answered urgently, getting into the car with Tom. Rio jumped in the back seat, and Diana and Tom didn't dare disperse her.

They arrived with backup to see Felicia struggling with Knox on the balcony with a knife to her throat. "Somebody help me!"

Diana jumped out of the car with Tom, gun raised. "Let her go, Knox!"

Rio raced for the stairs, Tom right behind her, focusing all her energy on Knox's link with her. Tom pushed her behind him with his gun raised when they reached the apartment door as he raised his foot to kick it in. Instead of shooting him, Tom punched him right in the face.

The blow caused Knox's grip on Felicia to drop as the bartender ran off out of the apartment as Tom tackled Knox to the ground.

Knox groaned, almost laughing. "I think you broke my nose."

"Stay down!" Tom shouted at him.

"You got me wrong." Knox smiled cockily. "Let me tell you-" he cut off, his lips pressing together. His brow furrowed together in confusion as he moved his lips frantically, but they never separated or let him speak.

Tom looked confused too until he turned around and saw Rio staring at Knox with an expression of deep concentration. "Are you doing that?"

"He needs to talk to control his puppets," Rio explained. "I don't. I don't know how long I can hold this, so you better get him into a soundproof room or something."

As she spoke, Tom noticed blood dripping from her nose.

* * *

Tom, Diana and Marco gathered in the Theory Room back at base. Tom paced frustrated. "Goddam serial killer. This guy murders eight people before he's abducted. They send him back, he picks up where he left off."

"In '83, Knox was your garden variety psychopath," Marco elaborated. "They sent him back enhanced. Big difference."

"Well, it makes whoever took him sound pretty nasty," Diana quipped.

"They also sent back Shawn," Tom reminded her. "And Maia. And Rhiannon who helped us get the guy before he killed someone else."

"Yes, I know," Diana admitted. "And for that, I'd like to thank them. But it all seems so random."

"Maybe," Marco agreed. "Until you start to look at the bigger picture. Orson Bailey kills Adam Kensington. Revenge murder. Open and shut. Carl Morrissey's a well-intentioned but hapless vigilante who ends up dead."

"Like I said, random," Diana reiterated.

Marco licked his lips in thought. "Yeah, but we know Kensington's company was perpetrating a massive fraud. We've learned that since Morrissey's death, his neighbors formed a committee protecting the park. Anyone starting to see a pattern?"

"What?" Diana asked sarcastically. "You're talking about some kind of ripple effect?"

Marco grinned. "Diana Skouriz, to the head of the class."

"The incidents themselves are just catalyst for change," Diana realized. "Positive change in these two cases."

"What?" Tom asked incredulously, looking between the two brainiacs. "Wait a minute. Whoever sent them back _planned_ for these changes to take place? What about the Knox killings—there's nothing positive with them?"

"Or maybe we haven't seen the ripples yet," Diana suggested.

"Agent Baldwin," a man poked his head into the theory room, "Miss Mitchell is here to see you."

Tom thanked him and stepped out, letting the man lead him down the hall of Homeland Security to where Rio was waiting with her hands in her pockets.

"Rhiannon, what are you doing here?" Tom asked her, excusing the other man.

Rio sighed nervously. "I wanted to speak to you—seriously."

"What is this about?" Tom asked her, sensing the importance.

Rio pulled her hands from her pockets to wring themselves together. "I dropped out of school. Because I wasn't learning anything. I could hear all the answers to every question, even before they were asked. I can't even turn it off. I'll still hear the test key while the teacher passes the tests out. There's no place there. And I have no future in any vocational training the government can help me into."

"So, what exactly are you coming to me for?" Tom asked her, a little confused.

"I want to help on your cases," Rio said quickly, like pulling out a band-aid. "I know I'm young, but there really is no precedent for people with supernatural abilities. And you know I can help like I did with Knox. I can train my ability to manipulate the links I have with people so you're not always running around doing detective work. I can read minds, track returnees. And I can learn to control it, I know I can."

Tom sighed. "Rhiannon... I can't..."

"Yes, you can," Rio interrupted. "You can talk to Ryland like you did to get yourself back in, to get me in. I don't even need a badge or special agent stuff. Just basic access to you guys and any information you think would help me help you. I want to help people. Maybe if the world sees someone like me helping make the world a better place—it'll shut up that stupid Yates' barking and stop others from looking at us like we're freaks. And plus, keeping me around this place will help you monitor me a lot easier."

Tom stared at her pleading expression, not being able to argue with her logic. "Listen... I'll talk to Ryland." He raised his hand to stop Rio from yelling in excitement when it was apparent she would. "But you'll only be a consultant of sorts. Not an agent. No badge. Lowest security clearance. Regular check ins and training under our supervision. And that's just if Ryland agrees."

"Thank you," Rio said genuinely. "I just want to help."

"I know," Tom nodded to her.

* * *

Teddy clapped in his new highchair as Ethan poured cheerios onto his table. "Don't spoil your dinner though."

"Yeah," Teddy laughed, not really understanding what he was saying.

"He doesn't know what you're telling him." Alice smiled as she stirred pasta in a boiling pan of water. "He's not even two years old yet."

"He learns by us talking to him more and more," Ethan told her. "I read about it."

"You've been reading about children?" Alice teased as she shut the stove off and lifted the boiling pan to the straining over the sink, dumping pasta and water inside.

Ethan blushed, not facing away from the toddler bringing cheerios to his little mouth and chomping on them. "I'm living with a kid in the apartment, might as well be able to help out with him."

"That's really... thoughtful, Ethan," Alice commented, smiling at the man's back.

"I aim to please," Ethan playfully returned.

* * *

"Police aren't saying who released the closely-guarded secret," a reporter announced on the television. Ben sat at his desk with the news on in the background as he searched for houses.

"A document containing the names and addresses of all the 4400 has appeared on the internet and is now posted on more than 20 sites."

Ben gaped, whipping his head toward the television. "Authorities won't confirm the leak but efforts to shut down the sites, with an emergency injunction, suggest the list is genuine. We'll have more on this breaking story as it develops."

Ben jumped out of his chair, racing toward his closet and pulling out two duffel bags. He threw both of them on the bed where Davey was sleeping and shook his little brother awake. "Wake up! Davey, wake up!"

Davey groaned as he was forcibly awakened. "Ben? What's going on?"

"We're leaving," Ben answered as he pulled clothes out of his spare dresser. "Tonight. Pack anything important that you need. We leave in twenty minutes."

"What's going on?" Davey mumbled.

"Just do it!"

* * *

Tom and Rio walked through the hallway. She felt something up with Kyle, told Tom to go to the hospital. They walked in to see Shawn standing over Kyle's bed. "What are you doing here, Shawn?"

Shawn turned toward his Uncle with a proud smile on his face. He moved to the side to reveal Kyle sitting up and wide awake.

Tom slumped his posture, whispering in disbelief. "Kyle?"

Kyle smiled, speaking in a raspy voice, dry from disuse. "How long... have I been in the dark?"


	8. Chapter 8

Shawn idly listened to Yates yap at Jordan Collier on the television as he poured a glass of water and got a few pain relievers out.

"Come on, Jordan, aren't you overreacting?" Yates asked with a small chuckle in her voice like she was dealing with a toddler's temper tantrum.

"No, I'm not at all," Jordan argued. "Publishing the names and addresses of the 4400 is a crime, Barbara. It's a violation of the privacy of over 4,000 people, and whoever did it should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

"She did it," Rio weakly growled from her splayed position on the couch in the Farrell's house.

Yates smiled patronizingly. "So, warning people they may be living next to a public menace is a crime..."

Shawn angrily shut the TV off, looking at his girlfriend as he laid the glass of water and pills on the side table. "What'd you say?"

"It was her," Rio whispered. "Barbara Yates got a hold of that list and leaked it. It's all her fault."

The doorbell rang then, Shawn groaning and shouting out the door, "We don't want any!" before realizing his volume only furthered Rio's headache. "Shit—I'm sorry."

Rio gingerly sat up, cringing, and taking the glass of water and pills. "S'okay."

"Shawn, it's your Uncle," a voice at the door called. "Let me in."

Shawn walked over to the front door through the kitchen and opened the door for Tom. "Uncle Tommy."

"Hey, Shawn," Tom greeted, following the teen back into the kitchen.

"Come to take the tour?" Shawn asked sarcastically.

"Quite the procession out there," Tom commented, noticing the girl on the couch. "Rio, hey."

Rio waved. "They've been driving by since our names leaked out on the internet—I had to sneak over here through the backyard."

"Yay for us!" Shawn cheered sardonically.

"Well, I know this is hard for you both," Tom assured them. "I just stopped by to say thank you. We took Kyle home yesterday and... I'm grateful."

Shawn leaned on the counter. "He's doing good, right?"

"Yeah," Tom answered somewhat hesitantly. "He's got a lot of work to do but... he's awake."

Shawn shuffled on his feet nervously. "Aunt Linda, does she know? About what I did, I mean?"

Tom shook his head. "No, I figured you wouldn't want that."

"Truth is, Uncle Tommy..." Shawn averted his eyes to the counter. "I don't know what happened. I put my hands on him. That's it." He glanced back at Rhiannon before looking at his uncle. "He woke up and I don't know why."

"There's gotta be a reason," Rio groaned feebly as she stood up.

She swayed on her feet, causing Shawn to rush over to her and take her elbows in his arms. "Hey, hey, hey—you okay?"

Rio nodded. "It's what I've been talking about. We were all taken, and changed, and put back to change things."

"Ripple effect," Tom agreed. "How'd you figure that out?"

"All the rumors about Orson," Rio began. "Finding out that I would've died in the Pan Am 103 flight if I hadn't been taken when I was. Then I was watching the news about Mr. Morrissey's neighbors cleaning up that park. Shawn comes back with healing abilities and is able to wake Kyle up. It all knocks down some kind of domino."

"That's why we need to learn more," Tom commented, standing in front of the teenage returnees.

"How?" Shawn looked at his uncle, jaw clenching. "Go into quarantine again? They could study us some more." He shook his head, irritated. "No! I'm done with all that. With the hypnosis and the dream journals and the counseling."

Tom tried to placate him. "I hear you. But I can be an ally. Maybe I can help you."

Shawn sighed, holding Rio closer. "I don't think so, Uncle Tommy."

Suddenly, Rio bent over in pain, gasping and holding her head. "No..."

Shawn cringed, trying to hold Rio up and lead her back over to the couch. "Not again."

"What?" Tom asked. "What is it?"

"She's been getting the headaches again." Shawn sighed, laying Rio down and sitting under her head so she laid in his lap. He brushed her hair back. "She's gotten these big... bursts of pains twice today."

"It feels like I'm getting ripped apart and burned," Rio whimpered. "Like I'm exploding. But this one... this one's different."

Tom kneeled in front of them, looking Rio in the eye. "How so?"

"I feel heat," Rio explained. "But no ripping. More like a... thump—like I fell down."

"Could this be like Bailey—and Knox?" Tom asked urgently yet as gently as he could.

Rio nodded. "I think it is. I think the 4400 are projecting to me. I think they're being blown up."

And almost on cue, Tom's cell phone rang.

* * *

"The genie is definitely out of the bottle," Diana commented as she, Tom and their team swept through the charred apartment of Lily and Richard.

"Three different bombings in one day," Tom sighed in frustration. "And Lily and Richard are the only survivors."

"Yep," Diana answered.

"Shawn's name is on that list—Rio's too," Tom mentioned. "I had my sister upgrade her security system, but..."

"Yeah, I'm worried about Maia, too," Diana sighed.

"Did you ever think about putting her in quarantine?" Tom asked his partner.

Diana stood over the burnt couch. "Yeah, I've thought about it. I've even talked it over with her. She started crying. She wants to stay with me, Tom."

"I'm glad it's working out," Tom told her sincerely.

"Who would have thought?" Diana replied.

Tom looked around the apartment with a careful eye, muttering to himself. "Exploding... then just a thump."

"What is it?" Diana asked.

"Exploding," Tom repeated louder. "Shawn said Rio's been feeling bursts of pain and she feels like she's exploding. He said it happened twice and then it happened while I was over there. She described it as ripping her apart and being burned."

"Like an explosion," Diana described.

"But the third time was different," Tom told his partner quietly, away from the teams' ears. "She felt the heat but no ripping or burning. She just felt a thump—like she fell down."

"The first two bombings killed their targets," Diana realized. "But Lily and Richard survived. They fell from the blast though."

"Rio says she feels like the 4400 are projecting to her," Tom explained. "Like it happened with Bailey and Knox. If the circumstances are intense enough, I think the 4400s are projecting to her what they're thinking and feeling."

"So, she's been feeling these people getting blown up?" Diana asked, frowning. "That poor girl."

"If she can learn to control it, to turn it off," Tom began thinking. "What if she can learn to target it?"

"You mean like search for the bombers?" Diana guessed.

"And anyone else we need finding or protecting," Tom theorized.

* * *

"Dennis Ryland?" A clean cut and clean-shaven suit knocked on Ryland's office door. "I'm Warren Lyttel. I believe HomeSec in D.C. mentioned I was coming."

"Oh yeah, they warned me," Ryland commented sarcastically.

"Well, they're never happy," Lyttel smiled friendlily. "They seem to think you need to be more aggressive investigating the 4400. I'm here to nudge things along." He handed Ryland a document.

Ryland peered over the paper. "Authority to review all 4400 case files. Access to all meetings and briefing sessions. Permission to ride with field agents at your discretion." He looked up at the 'visitor' through his glasses. "That's a pretty broad mandate."

Lyttell adopted casualness. "Well, they're looking at five murders. Three unsolved bombings. Barbara Yates bashing us all over the airwaves. Seems to them you could use help."

"I suppose it could look that way from a conference room in D.C," Ryland jabbed.

Lyttel seemed amused. "It looks that way from everywhere except this glass tower of yours."

Ryland was nonplussed and not impressed. "I have 1,000 returnees within 75 miles of Seattle. I've got two dozen agents to ride herd on all of them. You wanna help me? Get me some more personnel. You wanna help me? Get D.C. off my back. But you're not really here to help me, are you?"

Lyttel feigned innocence. "No. We're here to clean up your mess."

"Where did they recruit you from?" Ryland asked. "FBI? NSA?"

"Doesn't matter where I came from," Lyttel dodged.

"How long have you been in public service?" Ryland started in a patronizing tone. "15—16 years? And suddenly you got a shot at a command of your own. Well, you come and take it from me. If you can."

* * *

"Hey, are you feeling better?" Shawn asked Rio as she opened her eyes and slowly sat up from her nap on the couch.

She smiled sleepily at him. "A bit. It's quiet for now. I mean—not silent. I can still hear you and Sarah next door and stuff. But no explosions."

"That's good," Shawn murmured, hiding the nervous hitch in his throat when she said she could hear him. "Do you think you'll find a way to turn it off?"

"On and off—maybe," Rio nodded. "I hope so. I need to control this. I want to use it the right way."

"Like what you did for that girl at Friday Harbor," Shawn guessed. "You saved that girl's life." He sat next to her, cupping her face in his hands. "My girlfriend the hero."

Rio snorted. "As if."

"No, you are," Shawn insisted. "I could not be more proud of you."

Rio looked into his eyes, seeing the sincerity and hearing it in her head as he thought of it. She even felt his nervousness, the itching in the back of his skull fighting its way to his mouth but being held back by a steel wall of insecurity.

So, she tore it down.

"I love you, Shawn."

Shawn breathed out in disbelief but smiling at her like the sun shined in her eyes. "I love you, Rhiannon."

They simultaneously leaned towards each other like attracted magnets until their lips met together in the middle, brushing together again and again until they saw stars behind their closed eyelids.

* * *

"The ripple effect," Tom started thinking out loud as he and Diana looked over pictures of bombings and pages of facts. "What about it? Every time we stop by the theory room, you and Marco always talk about how every case we work on has a ripple effect."

"Yeah, every case but the Friday Harbor murders," Diana somewhat agreed.

"What if these bombings are that ripple?" Tom posed for her. "Knox went from killing prostitutes before his disappearance to killing random women once he came back. What if they weren't random?"

Diana looked at him, impressed. "That's interesting."

"We should look into Knox's victims," Tom stated. "See if we can find a connection there."

* * *

"Look what I found," Ethan grinned, holding up an old CD of his grandfather's. "Grandad must've snuck this into your stuff."

"What is it?" Alice asked, not recognizing the plastic square case.

"It's a CD," Ethan answered, pulling up his stereo on the couch side table and putting the circle disk into it. "It plays music."

The air filled with music a minute later as Alice grinned, "This was Dom's favorite song. He fell in love with it when we first heard it and he said he thought of me every time he heard it. He'd randomly play it in the house and pull me into a dance—no matter what I would be doing at the time."

_I'll be seeing you_ _  
_ _In all the old familiar places_

"Really?" Ethan asked.

Alice smiled at the fond memories and nodded, mouthing along with the words.

_That this heart of mine embraces_

Ethan reached out his hand to her. "Care to dance?"

_All day and through_

Alice hesitated, before slowly putting her hand into his and letting him pull her into his arms. She wrapped one of her arms around his neck as he held the first in his hand, above his heart, wrapping his other arm around her mid-back and letting their bodies sway around the room.

_In that small cafe_ _  
_ _The park across the way_ _  
_ _The children's carousel_ _  
_ _The chestnut trees, the wishing well_

Alice eventually relaxed, melting into his arms, and laying her head on his shoulder, letting her eyes close.

_I'll be seeing you_ _  
_ _In every lovely summer's day_

"This is a pretty good song," Ethan commented, resting his head on top of hers in thought. "Very romantic."

"That's why it was our song," Alice whispered.

_In everything that's light and gay_ _  
_ _I'll always think of you that way_

"I think this is why he snuck the CD into your things," Ethan murmured. "Why he left it to you."

"What do you mean?" Alice asked, lifting her head to look at him.

_I'll find you in the morning sun_ _  
_ _And when the night is new_

"To tell you that he'll always be there," Ethan revealed. "In everything around you, in every day and night."

_I'll be looking at the moon_ _  
_ _But I'll be seeing you_

"To tell you that you'll never truly be without him," he continued, noticing the tears gathering in Alice's eyes—happy tears—just at the notion. "He loved you, Alice. More than anything in the world. And he always will."

_I'll be seeing you_ _  
_ _In every lovely summer's day_

"I know he will," Alice whispered. "And I'll always love him too."

_In everything that's light and gay_

"But before he died," Alice began after a lull, "he told me to be happy."

_I'll always think of you that way_

"He told me that I was his soul mate," Alice explained, looking into Ethan's eyes. "But that we all have room in our hearts for more than one love. And he said... to find someone to love."

"Do you think you will?" Ethan asked her seriously.

_I'll find you in the morning sun_

"I think I already have," Alice whispered, looking him in the eye. They slowly leaned closer and closer until their lips brushed together, flood gates of emotion pouring into their first kiss as lovers.

_And when the night is new_ _  
_ _I'll be looking at the moon_ _  
_ _But I'll be seeing you_

* * *

Shawn let himself into the Baldwin's backyard, seeing Kyle sitting with his legs outstretched in sweats. Just sitting out there in the rain. He plastered an excited smile on his face and raced towards his cousin. "Kyle! Kyle, hey!" He grabbed Kyle and happily hugged his head to his chest. Kyle didn't react—at all. "Hey! It's good to see you, man." Shawn let him go and crouched in front of him. Kyle still had a bewildered look on his face. "What are you doing sitting out here in the rain?" Kyle just stared at him, blankly. "What are you staring at?" Kyle didn't make any move to answer. Shawn shook off his foreboding feeling. "Listen, you're looking pretty good. The way your folks were talking I thought you'd be some kind of zombie."

"They won't leave me alone," Kyle stated unemotionally, averting his eyes to the ground. "Asking me questions, staring at me all the time."

"They're just glad to have you back," Shawn explained. "My mom did the same thing to me."

"My parents had you come here, didn't they?" Kyle accused, yet again unemotionally, looking Shawn in the eye. "To try to make me remember."

Shawn frowned. "No, Kyle." Kyle started to stand up, Shawn standing with him but protesting when his cousin started making his way towards the house. "Hey!"

"I'm going inside," Kyle stated matter-of-factly. "I've got reading to do."

Shawn's brow furrowed in confusion at the odd statement. "You've got reading to do!?" Kyle ignored him, heading inside. "Kyle! Come on! I just got here!"

But Kyle continued on his way into the house alone.

* * *

"Dennis. What a pleasant surprise!" Barbara Yates greeted, slipping into the sleek government issue limo next to the Head of Seattle Homeland Security office. "Well, this is a bit theatrical, don't you think?"

Ryland didn't bother entertaining her fake polite conversation, handing her a manila envelope. "Read this."

Yates still grinned like a cat, taking the envelope as if it were a piece of feather. "What is it?"

"It's a story," Ryland answered, staring out his window. "A good one."

"About the 4400?" Yates asked, wondering if Ryland suddenly had a change of heart.

Instead he handed her some more paperwork. "No, about a TV talking head that was involved in a car accident last year."

The smile on Yates face slipped right off her face.

"A hit and run, actually," Ryland narrated. "It was really ugly. The pedestrian she hit died instantly. It was a shame. He was 40 years old, father of three. No wonder she spent so much money covering it up."

Yates now handled the envelope like it was poisonous snake, smiling a malicious and unbelievable lie. "So... are you blackmailing me? I shut up about the 4400 and this envelope goes in a vault somewhere?"

"Not good enough, Barbara" Ryland told her with a fake frown of condolence.

"What do you want me to do?" Yates asked, desperation filling her tone.

"It's too late for you to do anything," Ryland said. "I gave you a chance, and you refused." He used his button to roll down the window by her head, gesturing outside where Yates saw a man with a badge conversing with Dennis Ryland's agent. "Steve Smizick from the D.A's office wants to talk to you. He's going to charge you with vehicular manslaughter, among other things."

Yates laughed in disbelief. "Look, face it. Shutting me up is not going to make the 4400 disappear from the headlines. And eventually, they will cost you your job."

"We'll see," Ryland again stared out his window away from her. "Goodbye, Barbara."

* * *

Shawn walked through campus, trying to stop himself from pouting at the fact that Rio wasn't there since she dropped out. He stopped short when he noticed Nikki and his brother talking by a tree towards the front of campus. They looked like they were arguing. Nikki looked frustrated and Danny looked desperate. But in the end, Nikki simply frowned, shook her head, and walked away from him.

* * *

Diana speed walked in her heels on the elementary school campus, finding Maia in her uniform and ponytail smiling and talking with one of the teachers who stayed late with Maia to wait for her to be picked up.

"Maia, how did you do today?" Diana asked with a smile, hiding how flustered she was feeling.

"Miss Skouris, can we talk?" the teacher asked with a sad smile.

Diana nodded, looking down at Maia. "Well, give us a sec. Can you?" Maia nodded and went to sit on a bench. Diana faced the teacher apologetically. "Sorry I'm late again."

"Please understand..." the teacher began with a frown, "I'm afraid you can't bring Maia back to school anymore. We have to consider the safety of the other students."

Diana stared at the woman in disbelief. "Has Maia been a problem?"

"Not at all. She's lovely," The teacher answered sincerely. "But it's the bombings. With Maia's name on that list—we can't risk having her here at school. I'm sorry."

Diana nodded, sighing heavily. "I understand."

The teacher made her way into the office and Diana walked Maia to their car. "I'm sorry, Maia. We'll find someplace else, I promise."

"It'll be okay," Maia told her in a small voice from the back seat.

"No, it's not okay," Diana retorted. "It's wrong."

"No, I mean, someone's' coming who will make everything better," Maia corrected her. "We just have to wait a little longer."


	9. Chapter 9

Rio walked around her room, picking up clothes off of the floor and throwing them in the hamper. She paused when she saw the picture of her and her family, framed and sitting at her desk. Sarah had surprised her by framing it for her. She found it waiting for her the second day of school. Rio had cried and thanked Sarah about a million times.

_Oh, you got too warm,_ she heard a voice murmur in the back of her head weakly. The volume was small, as if the connection wasn't very strong.

_Come on. Let's look pretty. Don't you want to look pretty?_

Stopping herself from freaking out, Rio sat on her bed calmly and rubbed her temples from onslaught of pressure.

_That's better._

She heard a door close, metal slamming on metal. She heard a shuffle of another door open before it closed too. She heard some sort of jingling, like car keys and the roar of an engine before the pain burst in her head like an explosion. She screamed in pain, falling on her back on her bed.

The burst was over as soon as it began, leaving Rio panting from the excursion and dealing with the echoes of a migraine.

"Rhiannon!" Sarah's worried voice reached her as the woman ran into her bedroom. "Are you alright, sweetie?"

Rio groaned, covering her eyes with her hands. "No—I'm not alright."

* * *

"What do you have on the victim?" Tom asked his partner as they surveyed the damage of the blown-up van.

"Mary Denneville," Diana read out loud from the file in her hands. "27 years old. The flower shop was her father's. She disappeared in 1999 but picked up her life right where she left off."

"Until today," Tom quipped, looking at the wreckage of the explosion that took the young woman's life.

"Are the 4400 that frightening to people?" Diana asked. "Are we too close, so we don't see it?"

Tom shook his head. "Something like this isn't fear. This is hate; pure and simple."

* * *

Tom walked into his house. It was more Linda's house now. But he moved back in for now, for Kyle. He met Linda on the stairs. "How is he?"

Linda looked worn and ragged. "You better see for yourself."

She led him to Kyles bedroom where he drew dots and curves onto a reflective map with expo marking, staring in rapt fascination and concentration even when the door opened. Tom crouched in front of him, looking at the map. "What are you doing, buddy?"

"I'm looking," Kyle answered blankly, not looking up from his work.

"For what?" Tom asked patiently.

"For me."

* * *

"Why'd you bring me here?" Rio asked curiously as Shawn led her down the beach on Mount Rainier by her hand. "It's deserted."

"It's quiet," Shawn said. "I thought it would be a good place to get away while your head is quiet too."

"For one whole hour," Rio sighed. "Sorry about freaking you out when you got home from school. I told Sarah not to worry but she just had to call your mom and get you because she knows-"

"She knows I can stop the headaches," Shawn finished for her. "Or at least dial them down a bit."

Rio nodded, intertwining their fingers. "I just feel so much better when you touch me."

Shawn ignored the possible innuendos and leaned down to give her a tender kiss. She caught her breath when he pulled away, still leaning his forehead down on hers. "Why do you love me?"

Rio didn't falter at the question. Or ask him why he was asking. She simply smiled and began to answer, "Well... you've been here for me even during your own struggles... every step of the way since that first day we got back, and you helped up off the ground..." She gestured around the beach. "It was this spot." She smiled at the memory. She took both of Shawn's hands in hers and continued, "You're my best friend in the world. The only one I can really relate to and talk to about being one of the 4400. Nikki's been like a real sister—but she doesn't understand really. You're sweet—funny. You've got a killer smile. And a really bodacious bod."

Shawn laughed at the last one, Rio grinning proudly at the sound. "Bodacious bod, hmm?"

She nodded. "I'm still gonna hold onto my eighties catchphrases no matter what year it is."

"No, I like it," Shawn assured her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close. "It makes you unique. Every time you open your mouth, I have no idea what you're going to say—and I'm constantly amazed at what you do say—or do. You're the only one who knows what I'm going through and you're the most beautiful girl in the world to me. I love you, Rhiannon."

Rio smiled, staring into his eyes. "I love you too, Shawn."

Shawn leaned down to kiss her. He brushed his lips over hers softly at first. But when she reached up to weave her fingers through his short hair he leaned further down, kissing her firmly and more passionately as the kiss lingered. He snaked his fingers through her brown curls, pulling them to the right side of her neck as his lips dragged over her chin and down the other side of her neck.

Rio's breath hitched in her throat as she felt Shawn's other hand dip under the hem of her T-shirt, caressing the newly exposed skin. She pressed her body further into his as if she couldn't get close enough. She wrapped both her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. "Shawn?"

"Yeah," Shawn whispered as his kisses started inching lower in the neckline of her v-neck.

"Do you have any twenty-first century protection?" Rio blushed as she asked.

Shawn chuckled against her skin as he traced kisses back up to her lips, his eyes half shut. "We still use condoms—and yes."

"Get one," Rio breathed, cupping his face in her hands and making him look at her. "Is that okay?"

"You're asking your very male and very hormonal boyfriend if it's okay to have protected sex." Shawn looked at her amused. "Hmm... let me think about it."

Rio rolled her eyes at him. "I can always take it back..."

"No," Shawn protested with an eager smile and kiss. "Nope—don't need to think about it anymore."

Rio giggled as he kissed all over her face as he scrambled to pull his wallet out of his back pocket. She pulled back and grabbed his hand, pulling him a little further up the mountain and then laying down, leaning up on her elbows. Shawn gulped at the anticipation as he crawled over her, stripping his jacket as he lowered his lips to hers.

He pulled the tin foil square packet out of his wallet and laid it on the floor next to her head, pulling back to look her in the eyes, trying to portray his concern and love. "Are you sure?"

Rio smiled at his consideration, raising a hand to stroke his cheek as she looked him back in the eyes, using the connection to express all the love and adoration she felt for her best friend and boyfriend.

"Yes."

* * *

"Do you need any help?"

Alice turned to see Ethan standing with Teddy's hand in his at the kitchen entryway. She smiled and shook her head. "No, I'm just about done." She scooped out the grilled cheese sandwiches she was making from the pan and plopped them onto a plate.

"Are you worried?" Ethan paused to ask, leading Teddy over to his highchair.

"About?" Alice prompted him, cutting up one of the sandwiches into bite sized pieces.

"These bombings," Ethan told her. "That list."

Alice shook her head. "Sure—my name and Teddy's name are on that list. But this apartment isn't. The list was leaked before I submitted our living arrangements to Homeland Security."

"So, people don't know where we live?" Ethan guessed, smiling in relief. "Good. I can't imagine anything happening to you guys."

Alice smiled fondly as Ethan stepped towards her and dropped his lips onto hers briefly. "Is this home for you yet?"

Alice looked into his eyes, pausing to glance at her baby boy gabbing on in his highchair, and then smiled to her boyfriend. "You both are home. That's all I need."

* * *

Tom and Diana debriefed with Ryland after they found the garage behind used as an amateur bomb factory. "The tire prints matched the phone company's service trucks," Tom explained, "So, we pulled their personnel records and found one Dean Keating."

"As in Gail Keating—Friday Harbor murder victim?" Diana remembered.

"Dean's her older brother," Tom informed her.

"Not only that," Diana began, looking at Ryland. "Gail's younger brother, Glenn works construction and on his last job the company was short two dozen blasting caps."

"So, one of the returnees kills their sister and these guys get their revenge," Ryland summed up.

"And the 4400 go from being a threat to being sympathetic victims," Tom theorized.

"Your ripple effect," Ryland pointed at Tom in agreement. "All right, put out an APB on Keating's truck, and you'd better not let that truck get to where it's going."

* * *

Richard stood in his suit and earpiece in front of the Collier community gate, on high alert, when he saw a company truck driving straight towards the gate. He lifted his small mouthpiece to his mouth. "Code Red. Main gate."

The other guards readily gathered with Richard in front of the main gate with rifles in their grasps, aimed for the oncoming threat.

A helicopter flew overhead, housing Tom and Diana. Tom stood at the open side with his own gun, aiming and getting one of the boys in the shoulder. The boy tumbled out of the truck into the street with an agonized howl.

The other brother jumped from the van, but it still headed with slight distortion toward the gate. Richard and the guards raised their rifles and shot round after round into the truck. Richard managed to shoot on of the back tires. The truck set into a spin and tipped over, landing on its side just short of the gate.

Tom and Diana stared from overhead before the van suddenly exploded, leaving no lasting damage to anyone.

The helicopter landed next to the Keatings brothers, Tom and Diana running out with their guns aimed.

"Hands over your head!" Tom shouted at them, roughly pushing Dean on the floor. "Down! Down! Down!"

"On your stomach now!" Diana yelled at the younger brother, Glen, as he painfully rolled over onto his chest.

Tom laid his knee onto Dean's back. "You are being arrested as a terrorist. You will be treated as an enemy combatant. You do not have the right to remain silent. You do not have the right to an attorney. Whatever you say will damn sure be used against you!"

* * *

Shawn laid flat on the back seat of his car, Rio laid comfortably on his chest, only dressed in her t-shirt and underwear, as was he. She nestled into the crook of his neck. "Whatever plan they have for us... I'm glad we're a part of it."

Shawn smiled to himself, craning his neck to kiss her forehead. "I am too."

* * *

Tom had just let himself into the house when Linda rushed to him in panic. "Tom, you have to come quick!"

"What?" Tom asked urgently.

Linda flapped her hands for him to follow her. "Just come on!" She led Tom to their backyard where Kyle was sitting in the middle of the grass, naked, being rained on by the sprinklers in the night.

Tom held back his gaping mouth and rushed out to crouch next to his son. "Kyle! What are you doing?"

"I know what's wrong with me," Kyle spoke numbly. "I finally understand."

"What is it, Kyle?" Tom asked desperately, blinking heavily under the spray of water. "Tell me!"

"There's only one explanation," Kyle stated. "Why I remember everything but can't feel anything. Why all the people in my life seem like strangers... they're not strangers—I am." He slowly twisted his head to look Tom right in the face. "I'm not Kyle Baldwin."


	10. Chapter 10

Kyle stood staring blankly up at the TV in the corner of the hospital room, flicking the channels over and over with the remote in his hands.

"Kyle," Linda called to her son.

"I'm not Kyle," he insisted quietly and uncaring.

Rhiannon had been asked there to try and help. She had been practicing with Nikki to try and push herself into other peoples' minds and attempt to put thoughts or pry thoughts forcefully. Tom hoped she could do the same with Kyle to try and figure out what was wrong with him.

"Who are you, then?" Rio asked the zombie-boy.

"I don't know," Kyle whispered, still staring unrelenting at the TV screen. "I need more screens."

Rio stood in front of him, putting her hands on his shoulders. She focused on putting herself in Kyle's mind—literally. She felt the pressure build in her temples as she tried to push through his mental wall like she'd been able to do with Nikki a million times. But each time she tried it was like a rubber band snapping and she was thrown back into herself.

Rio slouched and sighed, shaking her head at Linda.

Tom stood outside with Dr. Mayhew. "Your son is experiencing a dissociative disorder. That's not uncommon for newly awakened coma patients. He feels disconnected from his personality."

Tom ran his hand over his face in frustration. "We knew he'd need to adjust but he doesn't know who he is."

"This is frustrating, but you did the right thing bringing him back here," the doctor assured him.

"Yeah," Tom sighed reluctantly. He wasn't so sure. "So, what now? More tests?"

Dr. Mayhew nodded. "We need to do another cranial MRI. They'll be here in an hour to take him downstairs. I know this is difficult, Tom. But Kyle's come this far—we can't give up now."

Tom nodded, bidding goodbye to the doctor before walking back into the hospital room. He looked at Rio who was still standing next to his son. "Anything?"

Rio frowned and shook her head. "No—I'm sorry. It's like he's blocking me somehow."

* * *

Diana and Maia purchased some ice cream from the stand. Diana reached into her pockets. "I think I've got the exact change." She counted it out and handed it over to the stand owner, Tony.

Tony grinned as he handed the ice cream cone to Maia. "Hello, cutie."

Maia smiled shyly back as Diana led her away around the large fountain in the courtyard. "How long have you known that man?"

"Tony?" Diana clarified. "About two years. He's nice."

"He's very nice," Maia confirmed.

"Why do you say that?" Diana asked her.

"He's going to fall in love today," Maia grinned.

"Tony?" Diana asked again for clarification. "My God. Good for him." She stopped and pointed to herself. "It's not with me, is it?"

Maia shook her head with a giggle. "Nope."

"I didn't think so," Diana said. Maia leaned against a stone railing separating people from the fountain behind her, averting her eyes and frowning. Diana bent her head to look at Maia. "Is there something else, Maia?"

Maia tilted her head up. "How long am I going to be like this?"

"Like what?" Diana asked curiously.

"I don't want to know things before they happen," Maia looked disheartened. "I want to be normal, like I used to be."

Diana pursed her lips, brushing Maia's hair back tenderly. "It's gonna be okay, sweetie. Besides, who's normal anyway?"

"You are," Maia told her matter-of-factly.

"Huh!" Diana scoffed. "You wanna know a secret? Normal people like me... they just wish they were special, like you."

Maia smiled at the sentiment, licking her ice cream, before she broke the following silence. "I found a babysitter for me. She was in quarantine with me with her baby."

"Baby?" Diana asked. "You mean Alice Bello?"

Maia grinned and nodded. "She disappeared in the same year as me—she was always nice to me. Please can she be my babysitter? I don't like that daycare."

"We'll see," Diana told her.

* * *

Kyle was forced to sit down on his bed while Linda tried to feed him some of the hospital food. "Put the television back on."

Rio had left, knowing she couldn't do anything for Kyle.

"Kyle, when you came home you spent all that time looking through your books," Tom said, "then the maps, now the TV. What are you looking for? Maybe we can help you look, too."

Kyle just stared up at the blacked-out screen.

Tom looked at his soon-to-be-ex-wife, pulling her to the side. "Come here. You should go and get some rest."

Linda shook her head. "I'm not leaving him."

Tom nodded. "All right. I'll go and grab some stuff. Be back in a half hour, okay?"

After he left, Linda went to get a soda from the vending machine. She was gone for maybe two minutes and when she came back, men in suits were towing Kyle out of the hospital room. She rushed toward them. "What are you doing? Leave him alone!" She ran for her son, but two men held her by her arms as some agent faced her. "Who are you people!? I'm calling security!"

"I'm Agent Lyttel," the man answered her with a secretive smile. "I work with your husband."

"I don't care who you work with!" Linda shouted at him.

She kept going for Kyle as he suddenly broke away from the men and wrapped his arms around her, whispering harshly into her neck. "Tell Tom I figured it out. I know where I have to be."

He was pulled away from her again as she stared after in helplessness as the Lyttell assured her. "Don't worry. He's gonna be safe. The government's gonna be supervising his medical care from now on."

* * *

Rio knocked on the open bedroom door, seeing Nikki pout on her bed. "Hey. Shawn told me what happened the other day."

Nikki looked up in surprise. "He saw?"

Rio nodded, coming in to sit in front of Nikki on her bed. "Yeah, are you okay?"

"Me?" Nikki asked, a little overwhelmed. "I'll be fine. I just wonder what Shawn must think of me after seeing me break his little brother's heart like that."

"Shawn understands," Rio assured her. "So do I. You just didn't love him."

"I mean, I liked him," Nikki rushed to explain, deflating. "But that wasn't enough."

Rio sensed something else by the way Nikki said that. She peered at her friend. "Does this have anything to do with what we talked about a few weeks ago?"

Nikki laid her hands in her lap, averting her eyes, "I told him what you said about pure expressions of love. I told him that I wasn't ready. But he kept pushing, said it would take our relationship to the next level and we'd be happier."

Rio sighed and shook her head. "You have absolutely nothing to feel bad about."

"No—I do," Nikki denied, shifting nervously in her seat.

Rio didn't notice her shiftiness though and continued comforting the girl. "No, look at me, Nikki." The younger girl raised her eyes to her. "This is not your fault. You don't have to feel guilty for putting yourself and your needs first when it comes to your own happiness. You're allowed to be selfish every once in a while—especially when someone is pushing you to do something you're not comfortable with."

"Really?" Nikki asked in a small insecure voice.

"Really." Rio smiled at her. "Let me tell you about this basic rule I have. I learned it from one of my friends in New York, Cody, when he was teaching me how to play beer pong. He said to me, 'if you hesitate, don't do it.' He was talking about making a shot. But I still live by the philosophy that if you're hesitant to do something you shouldn't do it. You'll just dig yourself into a hole of regret that way."

"But you said you've done a lot of things you regret," Nikki reluctantly told her.

Rio shrugged with a playful smirk. "Eh—I'm a rebel. I haven't met a rule I wasn't ready to break once or twice."

Nikki weakly laughed, yet still smiled after, and smiled at Rio. "Thank you, Rhiannon. You always seem to know exactly what to say to make me feel better." She twisted her fingers together. "Over the past couple months you've been living here, I've started to think of you as a sister. Is that weird?"

Rio laughed, the sound mimicking a scoff. "No—that's not weird. That's actually kinda boss."

"I'm still not used to your old slang," Nikki laughed. "Boss is good, right?"

Rio rolled her eyes. "Yes, dear, boss is good."

* * *

Richard and Lily sat next to each other on a park bench in their new neighborhood, in each other's arms with confusion and worry in their faces.

"What kind of genetic anomaly?" Richard asked, referring to the discussion Lily had with her new OBGYN just earlier that afternoon.

Lily shrugged. "All I know is she wants to grow one of the baby's chromosomes in a lab."

Richard rubbed her arm up and down. "It'll be okay."

Just off in front of them, Jordan Collier sat in a golf cart with some businessman, overseeing the building of a golf course. He had the driver stop and jogged on out to see Lily and Richard, who stood upon his entrance.

"It's gonna be a beautiful 18 holes," Collier smiled. "Either of you play golf?"

Richard made to shake his boss' hand. "I'm afraid not."

"That's too bad," Collier commented, noticing how Lily uncomfortably shifted behind Richard.

"Listen, about that doctor you sent us to," Richard began.

"Roxanne Kern," Jordan recited. "She's the best OBGYN in the Pacific northwest. You're in good hands." He then looked at Lily imploringly. "So, how did that support group meeting go?"

"It went well, thank you," Lily feebly answered.

"Nobody complain about the catering?" Jordan teased Lily about her concerns for Collier's motives on the expansive menu he ordered for her support groups.

"I have to admit, the lobster sushi was a great idea," Lily edged further behind Richard.

"You see?" Jordan smiled friendlily. "You just have to trust me." He looked at Richard with amusement written all over his face. "Your girlfriend has quite an imagination. She thought I was trying to steal her away from you. Can you believe that?"

Lily averted her eyes to the floor as Richard looked down at her and then at Jordan with an uneasy smile. "Er... not really."

Jordan smiled. "I like your confidence." He tilted his head toward Lily. "See? You were worried about nothing."

* * *

But Richard, as confident as he was, couldn't help but sense that something was off. So he did some digging, and found out some suspicious things. So later, he stormed into Dr. Kern's office, ignoring the nurse yelling after him. "Mr. Tyler, she can't be disturbed."

"This won't take long," Richard faced the started OBGYN. "Dr. Kern."

"I told him you were busy," the nurse apologized.

"Does Lily have an appointment?" Dr. Kern asked innocently.

"No," Richard shook his head. "Why do you call Jordan Collier every time she comes to see you?"

Kern shifted in her seat, fiddling with some parents. "My phone habits don't concern you."

Richard stared her down. "I think they do. What does Collier know about Lily's baby that she doesn't?"

* * *

"Sickle cell anemia?" Lily asked in stunned shock as she sat on the couch and Richard stood off to her side. "How can my baby have the trait for sickle cell anemia?... unless the father's black."

"Maybe he is," Richard mused.

Lily turned her head to look at him. "What are you saying, Richard?"

"I don't know." Richard hit his arms at his sides. "Maybe whoever took us used me as some kind of donor. The question is, why would Jordan have Dr. Kern keep this from us?"

Lily stood up in front of him. "The baby's carrying the sickle cell trait. That brings us closer. Maybe he doesn't want that to happen."

"Maybe," Richard agreed. "I think it's time me and him had a talk."

* * *

Nikki handled the velvet jewelry box Danny just handed to her like it was housing some pandemic disease. Rio left to hang out with Shawn and his mom, Susan. Shawn wanted his mom to get to know his girlfriend and trust her after hearing that the girl could read minds now. Danny had come over saying he had some things to return to her. But instead he handed her a box of beautiful earrings once he made his way into her bedroom.

Danny smiled bashfully. "They're nice, huh? I remember how much you told me you liked moonstones."

"I do," Nikki said awkwardly. "But I can't accept these."

Danny frowned. "Why not? I mean, I got them for you." He still saw Nikki's unsure expression, touched with a hint of guilt. "Come on, Nikki. Look, I know I messed up."

Nikki sighed. "It's just... it's over, Danny. Earrings aren't going to change that." She frowned, sitting down on her bed.

"I don't get it," Danny huffed. "I mean—we were happy, right? What changed?"

"Everything-" Nikki cut off, not knowing just how to explain it without feeling worse about herself. "Everything has changed since the 4400 came back."

"The 4400?" Danny scoffed, then stopped short. "Wait—is that about Rio? Did you guys have another _talk_ -" he spat the word out like poison, "and she convinced you to dump me? That girl has been out to get-"

"No, it has nothing to do with Rio," Nikki cut him off. "She's the only one I've been able to actually talk to about how I'm feeling because you just want to pretend that everything is the same when it's not. Shawn is back, Danny. Your brother is suddenly back after three years of you moving on. And while I'm happy he's back and so is your family—all you do is push him away."

"Shawn?" Danny scoffed in disbelief. "This is about Shawn? What—are you screwing him or something?"

"No," Nikki immediately denied it. "There's nothing happening between me and Shawn..."

"But you wish there was," Danny accused her.

Nikki was silent, averting her eyes to the floor.

"Nikki?"

* * *

Diana made her way toward her apartment, hearing arguing voices.

"I would just like to speak with her for a few minutes," she heard Lyttel's voice.

Followed by her new babysitter, Alice's voice. "And I said no. Her legal guardian is not present, so you have no right to speak to her alone. My brother-in-law was a lawyer, Mr. Lyttel, I know when you are overstepping your bounds. I would appreciate it if you left, sir."

"Lyttel, what are you doing here?" Diana broke in as she reached the door, seeing Alice standing in the door crack, carefully keeping it closed and blocking Lyttel's view as much as possible.

Lyttel smiled at her secretively. "Just wanted to chat with Maia. I thought it was time we met."

"Stay away from her," Diana warned him.

He smiled at her thin threat. "That's not really your call, is it?" After sharing a look with Diana, he made his leave.

After he made his leave, Alice opened the door to let Diana inside. "I had Maia take Teddy into her room. Maia? You can come back out now."

Maia walked out with Teddy holding her hand.

"I don't like him." Maia looked up at her foster mother. "And he doesn't really like me either."

"Well, don't you worry about him," Diana assured you.

"Are you sure?" Maia asked, a little fear in her voice.

Diana knelt in front of her. "Oh, you listen to me, Maia. I am absolutely sure. I am not gonna let anything bad happen to you. Hear me?"

"Okay," Maia answered in a small voice.

* * *

Ben cursed as he burnt his hand on the pan he had boiling on the stove. He was making some crappy macaroni and cheese for dinner in the cheap motel room he'd gotten for him and Davey while he tried to find a new permanent place for them to live. He'd thought of maybe moving into the new 4400 community, but he felt that he and Davey should immerse themselves in the real world instead of locking themselves behind a gate.

Ben ran his hand under cold water when Davey walked into the kitchenette. "Burn yourself?"

"Yeah," Ben groaned. "Just my luck. Listen—I think I found a place for us. I'm gonna see if I can use any of the benefits the other returnees get before I get a second job, okay? Just keep your stuff ready to leave at a moment's notice."

"Why does it feel like we're running from something?" Davey asked, sitting at the table. "The officers got the bombers."

"But now Dad could have seen that list and realized I was keeping you at the house this whole time," Ben told his little brother. "We can't let him find you. He's gotten worse over the years you've been gone, Davey. He's not safe—it's not safe to leave you at that house while I go to work. We were gonna lose that house anyway, Dad hasn't made a payment on it in three months. We've gotta strike it out on our own."

"I understand that," Davey sighed. "But he can't find us. If he didn't find me in your room while we were under the same roof—I doubt he'll find us when we're not even in the same neighborhood."

* * *

Tom knocked on Diana's apartment door, giving his partner a foreboding stare. "You good to go?"

Diana slipped on her leather jacket. "Just give me a sec." She walked toward the kitchen where her new babysitter, Alice, was cooking while Maia sat with baby Teddy at the table. "Alice, just remember what I told you. Don't answer the door to anyone you don't know, okay? Especially Lyttel."

Alice nodded readily. "Don't worry, she's safe with me."

"Are you leaving now?" Maia asked, letting Teddy play with her finger.

"Yeah, I'll be back before you wake up," Diana promised.

"Okay," Maia nodded.

"Better go," Diana bent to kiss Maia's hair. "Bye."

She and Tom were about to leave when Maia's voice stopped them. "Don't worry. You'll find him."

Tom turned to her. "Find who?"

"Your son, Kyle," Maia answered. "He's the answer."

"The answer to what?" Tom asked her.

"Everything."

* * *

Diana walked up to the guard in front of Kyle's room, that they found by Marco hacking into Lyttel's computer. "I want to see Kyle Baldwin, please." She acted professional, as if she owned the place, yet polite as she handed her ID to the guard.

The guard speculated the ID and ran his eyes down his clip board of names. "You're not on the list."

Diana inwardly cursed, searching for an explanation. "I'm a friend of the family. I want to know that he's all right." She scoffed. "He's not even one of the 4400 and his father works with me and if you could just give me something I could tell him 'cause... come on, we're both supposed to be on the same side, right?"

The guard surveyed, taking in her point before begrudgingly nodding. "I'll see what I can find out."

"Great," Diana breathed. "Thank you so much—that's great."

As he turned around, Diana sprung into action and injected a syringe into the back of the guard's neck. He seized up and started to fall. "You won't even have a headache when you wake up." As he fell, he bonked his head on the wall. "Well, maybe a little headache." She pulled out her phone, pressing speed dial. "Come on in."

* * *

Tom and Diana rushed into the room Kyle was in, finding him strapped on a chair with metal plates attached to a leather head band. Tom roughly pulled the metal plates from his temples. "Kyle. Hey, buddy." Kyle stared at him blankly, slightly sweaty. "It's me, buddy."

"Highland Beach," Kyle muttered.

"What about it?" Tom asked as he and Diana unbound his hands and feet.

"That's where I have to go," Kyle answered.

Diana looked at Tom dubiously. "Highland Beach?"

"Let's get you out of here first, okay?" Tom proposed.

* * *

Lily made her way into Collier's office, him nowhere in sight, and handed some paperwork to his secretary Sally. "Sal, these people are coming to the next meeting. It's a little bigger than the last so we may need a couple more tables."

Sally nodded, taking the papers. "I'll take care of it."

"Thank you," Lily smiled.

But before she could leave, Collier appeared out of his office. "Lily. Can I see you for a minute?"

"I have a few errands to run," Lily tried to excuse herself.

But Collier wasn't having it. "This won't take long."

* * *

"You're really good at this dish," Susan, Shawn's mother, commented as Rhiannon chopped and diced onions for her.

Rio smiled, looking at the woman before sharing a look with Shawn. Shawn really wanted the two women to get along, being his two favorite women in his life now. "My mom was the stereotypical housewife and mom. Always told me what a lady does. A lady cooks. A lady cleans. A lady marries a good boy with a good future ahead of him. I did almost everything I could do to disappoint her. But my bed was always made and if I'm given any recipe, I can make it."

"Really?" Susan asked her. "That's impressive. I'm sure your mother would be proud of you."

Rio shrugged. "I dunno." She hummed as she swept the diced onions into a pot and prepared to start chopping up bell peppers.

"What are you humming?" Susan asked curiously. "It sounds pretty."

"She hums the same thing all the time," Shawn said from the table.

"I don't know what it is," Rio said. "Just something that's been stuck in my head since we got back. I can't quite put my finger on where I heard it. Probably someone in quarantine with us."

* * *

Collier laid some papers with printed old newspaper articles on them. TRIAL DATE SET FOR NEGRO IN ASSAULT CASE ran over the top of the paper above a black and white picture of two officers escorting Richard out of a building.

Lily stared at them. "Where did you get this?"

"I've been doing security checks on everyone who's moved into the complex," Collier told her. "Don't look shocked, Lily. A lot of people would love to see me fall on my face here. A scandal like this would allow them to force me out of the company."

"Richard wouldn't do this," Lily protested softly, her head reeling.

"I'd have thought so, too," Collier told her with fake sincerity. "I guess we were both wrong."

Lily looked up at him accusingly. "Do you really think this is going to change the way I feel about him?"

"That's up to you," he told her seriously. "But Lily... you really have to ask yourself... is this the man you want raising your baby?"

* * *

Richard stared at the articles in shock, Lily sitting on the couch in front of him. "Aren't you gonna say something?"

Richard rubbed his hand down his face. "It was my 23rd birthday. A bunch of guys from the barracks invited me out to a bar."

"You don't drink," Lily commented.

"Didn't then either," he assured her. "But these guys... it was a big deal them asking me to come along. In those days, Negroes and whites didn't do much socializing." He paused, sighing. "So, I went. It was kind of nice, you know? Then this woman started coming onto me. People started staring. So, I figured it was time for me to get out of there." He stopped by their mantle. "She followed me outside and asked me to go home with her. I declined respectfully. That's when she started screaming."

"That's it?" Lily asked after a beat. "That's all that happened?"

"That's all it took in 1945," Richard explained to her.

Lily stared at him, confused. "But the statement the woman made to the police. I mean... it's so detailed."

"But Lily, none of it's true," Richard insisted. "If I hadn't been exonerated of those charges, do you think the air force have sent me to flight school? Made me a pilot? The woman lied. The charges were dropped."

"Why would Jordan bring this up?" Lily frowned.

"He wants you to doubt me. Doubt us," Richard told her, deflating at her blank face. "Do you?"

Lily didn't say anything, standing from the couch and wrapping her arms around Richard's waist. He sagged in relief and hugged her to him tightly. Lily pulled back, telling him urgently. "We've gotta pack whatever we can in five minutes. We're getting out of here."

* * *

Teddy grinned. "Mama I wan' cookie!"

"Me too, please!" Maia grinned as the children stood in front of Alice with innocent smiles.

Alice, always strong-willed, shook her head with a smirk. "Not a chance. You'll spoil your dinner."

Teddy pouted adorably. "But I wan' a cookie for dinner."

"A cookie isn't dinner, baby," Alice pointed out. "Dinner is tomato soup and grilled cheese and it's almost ready. Go clean up please."

Maia took Teddy over to the bathroom and helped him wash his hands for dinner, before helping him into the highchair Alice had brought over with her boyfriend, Ethan's help.

"He's special too, you know," Maia's voice startled Alice, who gasped in surprise before relaxing.

"What do you mean?"

"He came back with something different in him," Maia said, knowingly. "Like you. Like me. And someday he's going to help save us all."

* * *

"Come on, Mom. Are you serious?" Shawn asked him mother. "The movies? Like, you and me?"

"Is that so weird?" Susan asked him, laughing. "We used to go to the movies all the time."

"When I was six," Shawn pointed out.

Footsteps were heard as Danny rushed into the kitchen, a glare deeply set into his face as he pointed at Shawn. "Shawn! You prick!" He raised his fist as Shawn stood up from the table and punched him right in the face.

"Danny!?" Susan yelled out in shock as Rio rushed to Shawn's side as he stood up straight. Danny rushed at him again and punched him in the same spot, making Shawn slam into the wall.

"What the hell is your problem?" Shawn shouted.

"You!" Danny yelled. "One girlfriend wasn't enough—you had to take mine too?"

"What?" Rhiannon asked, taken aback. "Your breakup with Nikki didn't have anything to do with Shawn!"

"Bullshit!" Danny shouted, pointing at her. "You kept talking to her, getting in her head and telling her that she didn't need to be with me. And then Shawn swoops in and gets her to fall for him!" He turned pointing at Shawn accusingly.

"She didn't need to be with you," Rio shot at him. "You're the one who kept pushing sex on her when she wasn't ready. It was your doing—not Shawn's and not mine!"

"Danny, is that true?" Susan asked her son.

"What about the part where she fell for my brother?" Danny shouted at her.

Rio faltered, holding her head briefly. "I don't know anything about that."

"Whatever Nikki feels has nothing to do with me," Shawn told him. "I never did anything with her—I don't like her—I love Rhiannon!"

"Liar!" Danny yelled, lunging at Shawn again and punching his face into the wall.

Shawn finally got fed up and bent at the waist to slam into Danny's body and pushing him into a chair. Danny flipped them over. "You goddam freak!" straddling Shawn and punching his face repeatedly, ignoring his mother shouting, "Danny, stop this! Danny, stop!"

Shawn thrust his hand into Danny's chest. Danny froze, his skin going pail as Shawn glared at him. "Stop blaming us for Nikki! Don't you see it's over between you two?"

Rio noticed what was happening. Danny was growing dangerously pail like the life was being sucked out of him—just like Brad from the high school. She stood over the boys as Susan gasped and started crying. "Stop Shawn!" But it was like Shawn was in a deep trance. Rio felt her head about to burst with pressure and desperation until she suddenly screamed, "STOP!" and some blue force emitted from her and slammed into the boys, propelling Danny into the kitchen table and Shawn into the wall next to it.

Susan rushed to Danny's side, watching his skin slowly return to its normal color as she stared at Shawn and Rio accusingly. "What did you do?"

"I don't know," Shawn groaned, getting himself onto his knees. "I didn't mean to do anything!" He tried to shuffle closer to his brother, "Danny!" but Susan held her hand up, glaring at her older son.

"Get away from him! Both of you!"

Shawn cringed, getting up and rushing out of the house, Rio hot on his heals. "Shawn!"

She saw him heading for his car. She approached him, reaching for his shoulders. He shoved her hands off of him. "Don't touch me! I don't know if it's still happening."

But Rio ignored his warning, forcefully taking his face in her hands and making him look at her. "See? You're fine. You're not gonna hurt me. You're not gonna hurt me."

"Yes, I am," Shawn whispered to her. "Eventually, I am."

Rio felt a heat in her heart, heat in her eyes as they grew misty. "You don't have to."

"You're the only good thing that's happened to me since I've been back," Shawn told her sincerely. "But I can't stay here, and you won't want to come where I'm going."

"Where is that?" Rio asked as he pulled his face from her hands and walked around his car to the driver's seat. "Where are you going, Shawn?"

"I can't tell you," Shawn replied as he opened the door.

"Too late," Rio growled as the thought entered his head. "You thought of it as soon as I asked you. You can't seriously go to him, Shawn. He can't be trusted."

"I have nowhere else to go!" Shawn shouted at her.

Rio rushed to him, holding the car door open from his trying to get in the car and drive away. "No—just calm down. Let's talk about this."

A tear escaped from her eye as Shawn looked down at her. "I love you, Rhiannon. I love you so much."

"Then stay with me," Rio whispered. "This isn't right-"

"I can't," Shawn told her. "I need to get away from here."

"But it's not right if you're away from me," Rio told him crying.

Shawn frowned painfully, feeling tears in his own eyes. "I told you I would hurt you. I love you, Rio." He leaned down and pressed his lips firmly onto hers. He pulled away just as quickly and yanked the door closed after he took his seat, starting the car.

Rio slammed her hand against the glass of the window. "Don't do this, Shawn. You can't trust that guy—I promise you that. Please just get out of the car!"

He didn't listen as he pulled away from the sidewalk, avoiding hitting her as she backed away from the car, tears raining down her face uncontrollably.

"What happened?" She whipped her head to see Nikki standing there uncertainly. "I heard shouting."

"What happened?" Rio asked her dangerously. " _What happened?_ You told Danny that you fell for my boyfriend. Danny came at him, punching him and they got into a fight. Now, Susan and Danny hate us—and Shawn's run off to join a cult. That's what happened, Nikki—are you happy?"

Nikki frowned, feeling the sting of guilt and tears in her eyes as she saw the utter heartbreak, she caused her surrogate sister. "I'm so sorry."

Rio ran a hand through her curls, clenching her eyes shut briefly. "Why? Why does this shit happen? This was supposed to be a second chance for all of us. And everything just turns to shit anyway."

"I know there's nothing I can say to make this better," Nikki started softly. "But I-"

"No," Rio cut her off angrily, walking to the Hudsons' house. "There's nothing you can say."

* * *

Lily and Richard rushed to load all their things into their car, when Collier and another man raced to them in a black car, Collier stepping out. He didn't look happy. "What's all this?"

"What's it look like?" Richard asked him, closing their trunk and standing in front of Lily.

"Have you two thought about what you're doing?" Collier warned. "I mean really thought about it. Because let me remind you, it is dangerous outside those gates."

"We'll risk it," Richard told him.

"Lily, think about the baby," Jordan implored to the blonde woman.

"What does the baby have to do with this?" Lily asked him suspiciously.

"Everything," he answered her grimly, "That baby could be the key to the future, and I can protect it better than Richard—better than anyone."

"Lily, get in the car," Richard told his girlfriend.

Jordan stepped forward. "I can't let you do that."

Richard pulled out his gun. "Stay away from her." And the guard with Jordan immediately entered into a scuffle with the ex-security head as Jordan tried to grab Lily.

Lily bent over in pain. "Arg!" She held her stomach before Jordan grabbed her. The guard kept Richard from her with their fight as Jordan's hand landed on Lily's stomach, freezing there as a powerful pain seized his body.

* * *

Rio was in her room on her bed, crying, ignoring the knocks at her door—whether it was a concerned Sarah, a confused George or an apologetic Nikki. Suddenly, she bent over with an, "Oof!" as hot flashes erupted from her head to her toes—what was happening, she had no idea.

* * *

Jordan collapsed onto the driveway just as Richard knocked the guard over the head with the but of his gun. Richard immediately helped Lily into the car, and they drove off, Jordan calling after them with promise, "Go ahead! Run! It won't do you any good. I will find you. That baby belongs with me."

* * *

Shawn sagged in a cushioned chair, frowning deeply with guilt and turmoil. "I tried really hard and... no matter what I've done, which way I've turned, it just... it sucks. I need to clear my head and get away for a while. I hope Rhiannon's still there when I go back, but... I think I just ruined things with her too. The one good thing in my life—and I threw it away. I just need to separate myself from all of that though. I guess what I'm asking—is if I could stay here for a while."

Jordan faced him with his hands folded under his chin. "Shawn, you're one of the 4400. As far as I'm concerned, you can stay here as long as you want."

Shawn smiled in relief. "That's great, man. Thanks. Thank you."

"So, um..." Jordan began, leaning his elbows on the armrests of his desk chair, "tell me a little bit more about this ability of yours."

* * *

Rio wiped her eyes, hiccupping, then moved from her bed towards her closet to change into pajamas. She decided she should just sleep. She could follow Shawn to Jordan Collier's community the next day and attempt to talk some sense into him. She was about to change out of her black long sleeve sweater and blue jeans when a bright blue light erupted in her vision. She felt herself being pulled under water in her mind and saw glowing blue tentacles reach toward her before the scene around her shifted.

She was not in her room, but on a beach in the daylight. She was facing two males talking to each other, until she recognized them.

"Tom? Kyle?" she asked, stepping a bit closer to them. "What's going on? Where am I?"

"You are a crucial piece of the plan, Rhiannon," Kyle answered tranquilly, seeming a little less lost. But Rio still couldn't read him. "We decided that you should hear the explanation to everything."

Rio stood closer to Tom. "You're not Kyle."

Kyle shook his head. "No. Kyle was meant to be a channel, a way to communicate."

"Communicate with who?" Tom asked.

"With you," Kyle answered, looking between Tom and Rio. "With both of you. To guide you, Tom, in your dealings with the returnees. And with you, Rhiannon, to teach you how to use your gift for our purposes."

"I'm not really one for taking orders," Rio quipped, but sobered up and asked seriously. "But before, you didn't even know who you were—you were practically catatonic."

"Something went wrong," Kyle confirmed her suspicions. "Shawn interrupted the process."

"Shawn wasn't meant to be part of the 4400..." Rio realized. That could have just messed up his whole perspective of wanting to belong somewhere. He felt alien in his own home. He must have eventually realized he wasn't meant to belong in the returnee group either. He was in the worse of both worlds. Her heart would have gone out to him, if he hadn't just broken it.

"That's what put Kyle in a coma," Tom guessed. "He was like that for three years, because of you."

"Who are you, really?" Rio asked.

Kyle somewhat smiled, still serious. "I'm human. Like you."

"No," Tom argued. "You're nothing like us."

"I come from a different time," Kyle answered. "That is all. Your future."

"I was right..." Rio breathed. "This is all part of some plan—putting us all here with what we can do, to create some sort of ripple effect and change the future."

"We needed you all," Kyle confirmed for her.

"For what?" Tom asked.

"To survive," Kyle told them grimly. "In my time, humanity is dying out."

Tom and Rio stared at him in shock. Tom spoke. "You mean it's all going to end? Everything?"

"Only those we took could prevent the catastrophe from happening," Kyle explained. "That's why they've been altered and seeded back into the timeline."

"Why take us and put us here at this moment?" Rio asked him.

"Because history tells us this is where the path to oblivion began," Kyle stared out at the trees.

"And the people you took are gonna stop that from happening?" Tom posed for him. "How?"

"Rhiannon and the others have already begun their work. And you have begun yours," Kyle assured them.

_Tom, come on,_ Rio heard Diana's voice.

She looked around the beach. "Is someone else here?"

"What?" Tom asked her.

Kyle was the one who explained. "Rhiannon is in tune with all minds. She can connect to them. She is probably connecting to the subconscious of yours that hears the others."

Rio looked at him. "But you said there's a way for me to control it."

Kyle nodded. "You will learn. You do not need to worry, Rhiannon."

_Do something or I will,_ she heard another voice warn Diana.

"I don't understand," Tom admitted. "What is their work? What are we supposed to do?"

"You have to help them," Kyle said.

"Help them?" Tom repeated. "How?"

Rio violently flinched and ducked when the sound of a gun shooting exploded in her ear drums. She let out a whimper as she knelt in the sand, looking around and seeing no one else there.

She stood up and heard Tom say, "You're bleeding." She looked and saw a blood spot seeping in Kyle's chest, staining his shirt as he looked down at the wound with shock. Tom stepped up to him, holding him up. "Kyle?"

Rio was suddenly pulled back into her room, looking around and seeing no Tom, no Kyle, and no beach. "No!"

* * *

The blue light that protected Kyle and Tom, albeit poorly, disappeared as Not-Kyle's body collapsed to the ground, Tom holding his shoulders in his lap as he stared up at his not-father in pain and shock. Tom started breathing heavily, desperate. "Kyle! Kyle! Kyle! Stay with me, Kyle! Stay with me!"

Lyttell stood, gun raised, until Ryland marched up to him and grabbed it from his grasp, rage in his face.

Diana frowned as she watched Tom beg his not-son to stay alive. "Look at me! Look at me! Stay with me, Kyle! Stay with me! Come on! Come on! Come on! No!"

But despite all his protests, Kyle slowly went limp in his arms, his eyes closing and his breathing halting.

"Tom..." Diana sighed.

But then Kyle suddenly seized up in Tom's arms, sucking in a breath with urgency as a blue light enveloped him from the chest outward. As the light faded, Kyle opened his eyes, staring up at his father with confusion and recognition. "Dad?"

Tom breathed out a happy laugh of relief, "Kyle!" knowing that this was his son, his real son.

Kyle looked around the beach at all the people in growing confusion. "What are you doing here? Where's Shawn?"

"Kyle?" Tom pulled his son closer.

"Dad?" Kyle squinted, suddenly growing nervous. "I can explain about the beer."

Tom laughed. "No! Forget about the beer. You don't have to explain anything."

* * *

SIX MONTHS LATER

Richard knelt by the cabin fireplace, feeling the growing flames some more wood to keep the place warm. Lily held her hand on her protruding belly, standing and wincing. "The baby."

Richard stood. "It's time?" She nodded and he put his hand on her back. "I'll get the car."

THE END


End file.
